It has to be admitted that there are streets where one has to watch every direction at once lest somebody pick that particular moment to cast out of an upstairs window the contents of a chamber pot, the results of an unsuccessful culinary experiment, or a faithless spouse.

There are other streets where you run the risk of being assailed by footpads, extortioners, those who insist with spurious sincerity that they are collecting for some worthy cause, or the weary retailers of spurious affection.

Ropewalk isn’t like that. It is busy, one of the arteries of a great city, and all life is there. If you wish to stand and watch the world go by, pick your spot with extreme care lest you be run down or built over. Whenever I walk down the street I feel a surge of energy, any verses that come to me have a faster…