Last night our Poetry with Friends gang met at Sue’s house. Eleven of us fitted nicely around Sue’s dining table and I positioned myself so I could enjoy looking at an amazing painting of Dartmoor adorning one of her walls.
There was a celebratory feel as well as an “eeh how are you? Not seen ya for aaaggges!” element to the meeting. Sue supplied delicious cake, biccies and hot drinks. Stella brought QUADRUPLE choc chip biscuits and I had to try one. Man, it was disgusting*
We shared poems by Liz Cowley, Kitty Fitzgerald, Brian Patten, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Robert Bell, Mary Robinson, Mark Waldron, Adrian Henri, Wendy Cope, Martin Newell, Elizabeth Jennings, Gabriel Setoun, Jenny Joseph and Robert Service.
The Legendary Ken Creen read his poem Stanley and recited the lyrics to Mel Tormé’s In a Mountain Greenery. Harry and I each read one of our own compositions and Alan shared a couple he’d written since we last met. Alan went on to produce two (or was it three?) fresh poems during the session. What a guy!
We also talked about birdwatching from our windows, dementia, The Velvet Fog (Mel Tormé’s nickname), Sue’s forthcoming birthday, the very British way of mocking nascent talent, ballet, PTSD & rainbows. Our words of the evening (very Sesame Street, this) were: filched and nocturne.
Linda’s reading of Saturday Night by Victoria Wood went down a storm. We all appreciate Wood’s extraordinary talents.
*I was lying about the choc biscuit. It was delicious and probably not very nutritious.