'John Lennon ... Homecoming'

by Kevin Austin


A weary end to a long trip. 1948. Not to Hamburg, not to India to see the Maharishi, but back in John's eight year old Liverpool, to his Aunt Mimi's house, 'Mendips', light years from the Somerset hills, on Menlove Avenue, Woolton. On a Crosville bus. Top deck and front seat of course. Across the road with its tram wire posts and atmospheric lamps, 'Streamliner' and 'Baby Grand' trams trundle and rock and roll to somewhere called Penny Lane, but John’s not going there, not just yet. The car in front of their bus has a familiar number plate. A cat contemplates calling at Mimi's warmly lit house while dogs scurry home next door. A real homecoming.