You will have noticed that I am a writer, a writer, in the main, of children's books. As a child, I wasn't that fussy about poetry in school, and yet I quite often surprise myself now as an adult, when with my friends we are discussing prose and poetry, I can often quote some of the poems I had learned in my earlier years. 'The Fairies' by William Allingham - 'Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen...' and 'A Smuggler's Song' by Rudyard Kipling, 'Brandy for the parson, Baccy for the Clerk, Laces for a lady...' by Rudyard Kipling, spring to mind. Some of my writer friends write beautiful poetry, in depth, about their inner feelings, that are very moving, but my efforts are not at all so profound. I make pictures with words. Often they do not rhyme, and the rhythm is sometimes broken, so I believe my work may well come into the category of free verse. I do hope you enjoy my modest attempts at poetry writing. Two poems in this collection won monthly competitions, 'Different Strands' in February 2021 and 'The Hand of Papa' in June 2022.