Author(s): JACQUELINE GABBITAS

Poetry

Lazing on a picnic rug under a clear blue sky, what could be more lovely than reading poetry? These ten poems have been selected to provide a perfect accompaniment to an open-air feast; some capture culinary delights such as strawberry tarts and custard while others have been chosen to add to the mood of carefree bliss that only a picnic on a summer's day can offer. From Jeremy Hooker's thoughts while blackberrying to the quiet joy of being in a park with squirrels and daffodils in March, we are transported to enchanted times and places where day-to-day routines seem to have been suspended: "In a little rainy mist of white and grey we sat under an old tree, drank tea toasts to the powdery mountain," - from 'The Picnic' by Edwin Morgan Whether read alone or to a friend or lover, these beautiful poems make ideal companions for a cucumber sandwich and a glass of fizz. Poems by Wayne Burrows, Jacqueline Gabbitas, Katherine Gallagher, Jeremy Hooker, Mimi Khalvati, Edwin Morgan, Frank O'Hara, Peter Phillips, Gertrude Stein and Edna St. Vincent Millay.