James Brookes
General Franco in the Canaries
Originally Published in the Times Literary Supplement
A plume of black sand rose out of the bunker
as he hacked himself out of the hazard – the new iron wedge
with its lofty, open face. Golf, English lessons,
more golf. In Tenerife, where the trade winds stick
in the eucalyptus and cypress of La Esperanza,
somewhere inland from where Nelson lost an arm,
there were meetings. Long drives up toward the volcano.
Soon, he’ll bemoan the loss of the planned trip to Scotland,
chatty aboard the de Havilland Dragon Rapide
with Pollard, the huntsman and historian of small arms,
“one of those romantic Englishmen
who specialise in other countries’ revolutions”.
