By a rather weird coincidence Anne Cunningham, the subject of yesterday's normblog profile, posted a link to it at One-Sided Wonder and then, later in the morning and in the immediately adjacent post, happened to refer to a passage from a novel by... Sophie Hannah. I assumed Anne must know that Sophie is my daughter, but when I emailed her to ask, it wasn't so. Does this suggest a new - post-ish - meaning for the expression 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree'? Anyway, I'm taking it as a prompt to feature two more of Sophie's poems.
I came this little seaside town
And went a pub they call The Crown
Where straight away I happened see
A man who seemed quite partial me.
I proved susceptible his charms
And fell right in his open arms.
From time time, every now and then,
I hope meet up with him again.
He is Now a Country Member
He is now a country member.
The subscription rate goes down.
January to December,
If you live or work in town
You pay more. You come more often
And the fee, therefore, is high.
In a vain attempt to soften
Last year's blow, he now drops by.
Not a word since last September.
He left town. We both know why.
He says, 'I'm a country member.'
'I remember,' I reply.
From First of the Last Chances, by Sophe Hannah.