Lucy at the conference
for Lucy Dougan
When Lucy came up behind my chair
and put her arms around me
enclosing the stiff-backed chair
and my waist in a circle of air
so I half-turned my head
to identify her I thought
in an instant how the conference improved
the speeches became marvellous, courtly
in the deference to one another, not
one went over their time, the chairman
summed up each paper beautifully
all was harmony where before I had
harsh thoughts on the relevance of symposia
and whether all papers are soliloquies
until Lucy came: loose chair-filled embrace
side of her face against my cheek, wing
of hair and laugh deep in her throat
then what a treat to be in academia.
Elizabeth Smither