I first met my Lady of the Camellias in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul She was modestly dressed and her face was half hidden by a beautiful scarf When I enquired of this modesty I expected an explanation of respect But she told me that it was to hide a white scar which she had…

Viola and I were sitting in the shelter of a deep breakwater Which was cutting off the chilly northern wind Whereas above us the visitors were wearing winter coats We were wearing our summer rags I was wearing a azure tee shirt and cotton shorts Which were displaying my tanned legs to a great advantage…

Shelley and I quote once said The Princess Charlotte is dead She no longer moves nor thinks nor feels She is inanimate as the clay – Please stop Why It is too gruesome   Today I found found a goldfinch which had been mortally injured by a car Tears were running down my face But…

On the first day in the Spanish city Holland Park visited the naturist beach where he had agreed to meet his boyfriend Notting Hill To pass the time he was reading The Princes and Perfumes of Persia and was watching the bronzed bodies at play around him They reminded him of the mighty Moors hat had once…

The Long Sailors of Queziletimal  As they relaxed in their tepid baths With maiden’s fair of skin All that these sailors could think about Were the seas that they had left behind They longed to captain their ships Through weathers foul and fair And return in peace To the purple regions Of their distant and long…

I read in a newspaper that hand-crocheted dolls Of Vincent Van Gogh are now available In the Tate Britain and elsewhere They are thirty-five pounds each He is shown wearing his French work jacket And a rough grey hat I wonder what Vincent would have made Of this exclusive range of dolls Perhaps he might…

Christian Hooper Married Madeline Cooper In Weston Super Mare

Reed Dances was lying on her morning bed Writing love letters to herself In smooth purple ink   Her brother Robertson was standing at her window Looking at the suspension bridge he had built Across the tender valley   In the garden below another sister named Roberta Was flying fragile paper kites In the breaking…

When walking along the shore in the hour before dawn I saw a slither of burning gold Sharing a meal with the horizon I marvelled at the splendour of my find And gave alms to a sceptic beggar

The Americans in Berlin Is the name of my cat He does not like this name And refuses to answer to it I have asked him what name Would he choose if invited Star Wars The Movie Was his considered choice So as of tomorrow I will call him Star Wars The Movie This will…