Cliff Yates was our guest poet last November. You can read the poems here. As I was going through his New & Selected Poems (The Poetry Business, 2023) to select a set, I came across the poem below.

It’s even sweeter on Valentine’s Day…

from Another Last Word

EXPENSIVE CHOCOLATE

There are eight pieces. She has two
and gives me one. ‘Confiscate this,’
she says, handing over the rest.
‘Hide it, or I’ll be tempted when you’re out.’
When I get back, the drawer’s open,
there’s one piece left, and a note
on a scrap of paper: NOT VERY WELL HIDDEN.

CLEARING UP

She’s cooking Sunday lunch and I’m clearing up.
‘It’s ridiculous,’ I said, ‘you spend time
getting things out of cupboards
and I spend time putting them back in.’
‘Not enough time in my opinion.’

BIRTHDAY

‘You’re being nice,’ she says, ‘you’ll be running
out of steam soon. You’ve been nice
since 7 o’clock, that’s 3 hours, 10 minutes.’

DANCE

‘It’s great the way we dance around each other,’
I said, ‘when we’re getting the meal on.’
‘We only do that because you get in the way.’

SATSUMA

‘I can’t be bothered with this satsuma.’
‘Give it here,’ she says. ‘Can’t peel a satsuma,
can’t peel an egg. We’ve been married how many years,
and I’ve made no progress with you whatsoever.’

WRITING

‘I had to work on that one,’ I said, ‘because
you didn’t actually say that. I am in fact
writing these poems.’ ‘That’s what you think.’

ENTERTAINING

‘Some of these make me sound terrible,’
she says. ‘It’s because you find me so entertaining.
It makes me worse when you start laughing.’

LUNCH

‘Apart from the salad and potatoes,’
I said, ‘what did we have for lunch?’
‘If you can’t remember what we had for lunch
I feel sorry for you.’

GETTING IT RIGHT

‘I’ll get it right one day.’ ‘I doubt it,’ she says.
I laugh. ‘It’s not funny really, is it?’
‘No,’ she says, ‘but at least you’re hopeful.’

PHILOSOPHY

‘You’re too hard on yourself,’ she says,
‘when I wake up I just want a cup of tea
and then I want to be entertained by life.’

FISH

‘What we need is a special pan for fish
and a fish spatula.’ ‘No,’ she says,
‘what we need is for you to eat fish.’

COLOURING PENCILS

She’s at the kitchen table, going at it
with her new colouring pencils.
‘I had some when I was little,’ she says,
‘but I was never let loose. It was always
What’s THAT supposed to be? or Where’s the SKY?’

Biography

Cliff Yates was born in Birmingham and has been publishing poetry since the 1980s. His New & Selected Poems (Smith/Doorstop, 2023) brings together work from various collections including Henry’s Clock  (Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize; Poetry Business Book & Pamphlet Competition), Frank Freeman’s Dancing School (Arts Council England Writers Award) and Jam (ACE Grant for the Arts). He taught English at Maharishi School in Skelmersdale and wrote Jumpstart Poetry in the Secondary School during his time as Poetry Society poet-in-residence, following the success of his students in poetry competitions. He has led courses for, among others, the Arvon Foundation and the British Council. Read more on his site here