I Am Always Pleased To

I Always Wanted A Child. Being A Mother Is The Central Thing In My Life.

I Think All Poets Must Feel This: That There Is Constantly Something New To Be Discovered In The Language. It's Like A Thrilling Encounter, And You Can Find Things.

As Anyone Who Has The Slightest Knowledge Of My Work Knows, I Have Little In Common With Larkin, Who Was Tall, Taciturn And Thin-on-top, And Unlike Him I Laugh, Nay, Sneer, In The Face Of Death. I Will Concede One Point: We Are Both Lesbian Poets.

I Grew Up In A Bookless House - My Parents Didn't Read Poetry, So If I Hadn't Had The Chance To Experience It At School I'd Never Have Experienced It. But I Loved English, And I Was Very Lucky In That I Had Inspirational English Teachers, Miss Scriven And Mr. Walker, And They Liked Us To Learn Poems By Heart, Which I Found I Loved Doing.

I Am Always Pleased To Be Asked To Write A Poem.