Slowly, slowly, slowly we are getting back to shared work as Maria’s recovery progresses. This means sister-meets in the park are becoming part of our routine again. On a good day, CFS flare-ups permitting, I arrive on my yellow bicycle, while Maria, lift from wife depending, arrives on her crutches.

August began with a typically sparky meet in which, after revisiting my poem Dear Elizabeth for The Lufkin Zine Launch (it was originally written for a Manchester Zine), we got to thinking about letters in song and verse. Maria told me about Leonard Cohen’s ‘Famous Blue Raincoat,’ even sang me a little as we moved through the trees after coffee, for Maria to practise on her crutches.

This led us to thinking about rhythm and musicality in poetry too – particularly the work of Langston Hughes – a current shared preoccupation as we both bought each other poetry books of his for our July birthdays. (This Watermelon Notebook was a gift too and I love it aesthetically and symbolically.)

Since our meeting, I have experimented with the letter format for writing a piece on this blog that has been particularly difficult (emotionally, that is) – finding liberation in its intimacy and narrative possibilities.