HELEN’S HOUSE. By Bryn Fortey

Meeting with poets Bruce Hodder and Mark Carver

In Helen Verrill’s. house

A terraced house in Semilong, Northampton

A Bohemian house, once you went inside

Musical instruments here and there

Paintings on the walls

The accumulated clutter of an artistic soul

A place where Cassady might have rested

Following a long hard drive

Where Ginsberg might have chanted

And shook a tambourine 

While Kerouac would have wanted

To keep the party going

But that was then and now is now

And it was gentler souls

I was meeting today

With poetic talent the glue that bound

Sparking a sunny autumn evening

Of wonderful conversation

Confirming friendships that were now

More than just Facebook posts

So thank you, Helen

For welcoming us all into your home

It was a genuine delight

Bryn Fortey is a veteran writer from Wales in the UK. Widely published

over the years, he has had two collections published by The Alchemy 

Press, both featuring a mix of short stories and poetry. He is grateful that

in old age he is still able to put pen to paper and finger to keyboard