At least once a year I wander down to the beach
Usually on a cooler day
As I am given the space that I require
Whilst there I read
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
In its entirety
I have not completed this friendly task
So far this year
As I have pretended to be busy
Jane
Yes
Do you remember
Our Yorkshire conversations
Which one
The one about
Which of Keats Byron
Shelley or Coleridge
Do I resemble the most
You replied that
I am unlike
Any of them
As I am
My own person
And that the question
Was quite immature
As it was unlike me
To seek praise
Whilst hiding in the shadows
Of another poet
I noted that my question was
A question that did not
Requite an answer
As it was a fluid enquiry
You noted that I resembled
Each of the named poets
But my work was far more oblique
We finished our tea and toast
Marvelling at the low clouds
And the bleak moors beyond
You then handed me a copy
Of Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
As a gift for being so kind
I can remember the moment clearly
As I was wearing your garnet ring on a necklace
Which had been your morning gift to me
Stan and Jane
September 2022