In 1871 the famous French Symbolist poet Stephane Mallarme visited my home town of Bradford on Avon

He would have come by train

In the 1960s I used to play in the sand at the town’s railway station

I was not aware of his visit at that time although I had begun to write poetry

The view from the railway station has not changed greatly and is very much as he would have found it

We never met although I feel that we have known each other for years