I've Said What I'm Prepared To Say

I Was Single For A Long Time And Felt Very Much Alone In The World, And Talk Of Family Values Upset Me Very Much At That Phase In My Life, Because I Used To Think: 'what About People Like Me?

At Lunchtime I Bought A Huge Orange The Size Of It Made Us All Laugh. I Peeled It And Shared It With Robert And Dave— They Got Quarters And I Had A Half. And That Orange It Made Me So Happy, As Ordinary Things Often Do Just Lately. The Shopping. A Walk In The Park This Is Peace And Contentment. It's New. The Rest Of The Day Was Quite Easy. I Did All My Jobs On My List And Enjoyed Them And Had Some Time Over. I Love You. I'm Glad I Exist.

I Always Tell Students That Writing A Poem And Publishing It Are Two Quite Separate Things, And You Should Write What You Have To Write, And If You're Afraid It's Going To Upset Someone, Don't Publish It.

In My Case, The Long Gaps Between My Books Have Got Quite A Lot To Do With Lack Of Confidence. A Lot Of The Time When I'm Not Writing I Start Thinking I Can't Do It.

I Used To Think All Poets Were Byronic Mad, Bad And Dangerous To Know. And Then I Met A Few. See Lamb 486:25.