She put flowers in her hair
and we fell in love
reading in the square
pretending Caravaggio
reciting Baudelaire
honeysuckle in the air
at the Dornoch Book Fair
I smelt vanilla in her hair
blue sky in her eyes
assimilating the Life of Pi
soft Romeo and Juliet
love’s a stage and we were players
reckless and without a care
at the Dornoch Book Fair
Lord Byron, Sylvia Plath
Simone de Beauvoir
Sam Beckett and Björk
they were all there but
no poet can rhyme on words
that sought out that love
at the Dornoch Book Fair
I blew the petals from her hair
we ripped-out the pages
from the book of love and
we kissed goodbye
on the Burghfield stairs
it rained without hope
at the Dornoch Book Fair