Thing To Have Today: a globus hystericus.

I went to The Tower the other day.

Which Tower?

Well, if you're English then The Tower will always be the Tower of London. Going to The Tower still sounds dangerous and horrifying to us, kindling a fear of being imprisoned for a long time in horrid circumstances with small chance of ever getting out in one piece.

And when I say one piece I mean that quite literally.

The Tower (which isn't a tower at all, but a castle) contains the Crown Jewels, a thousand years of history, and, at the moment, a remarkable work of art.

In the grass surrounding the outside walls are planted china poppies, one for each British or Colonial person killed in the First World War. There are great swathes and hosts of them, flowing like blood.


Oh, but look at how many there are. How many! Could anyone see them and see the crowds around regarding them, and not get a lump in his throat?

Not me, for one. Not me.

Thing To Have Today: a globus hystericus. This is the medical term for a lump in the throat. It's odd, because while globus is the Latin for a round thing, hystericus comes from the Greek hustera, which means womb. Which is obviously in a different part of the anatomy entirely.

The Blood Swept Lands And Seas of Red exhibition, by artist Paul Cummins, involves 888,246 ceramic poppies.