Her ivory hands on the ivory keys
Strayed in a fitful fantasy
There are two fields we pass on the way to the bookshop each morning, both are normally unremarkable, they’re either pasture with a flock of sheep or arable with a crop of some kind. Rotation keeping the soil as healthy and as productive as possible: the process and system of farming. But this year, both these two ordinary fields are showing themselves to be rather extraordinary – each is bursting with a gorgeous crop of Sunflowers. Their huge faces beaming up towards the sun, a regiment of yellow, marching on with straight backs and purpose, soaking up as much energy as they can, a parade ground full of beauty.
In The Gold Room by Oscar Wilde
Her ivory hands on the ivory keys
Strayed in a fitful fantasy,
Like the silver gleam when the poplar trees
Rustle their pale-leaves listlessly,
Or the drifting foam of a restless sea
When the waves show their teeth in the flying breeze.
Her gold hair fell on the wall of gold
Like the delicate gossamer tangles spun
On the burnished disk of the marigold,
Or the sunflower turning to meet the sun
When the gloom of the dark blue night is done,
And the spear of the lily is aureoled.
And her sweet red lips on these lips of mine
Burned like the ruby fire set
In the swinging lamp of a crimson shrine,
Or the bleeding wounds of the pomegranate,
Or the heart of the lotus drenched and wet
With the spilt-out blood of the rose-red wine.
Investigators, healing hippos, and ghosts; an unlikely trio, but one that’s exciting the fiction world this week! In non-fiction, we celebrate British pubs, the stratospheric success of pop’s new star Chappell Roan, and pave a better way forward for living online. For children, Maisie is back and this time she’s exploring the Himalayas, and 20 funny cats are hiding… how many can you find?
As always, if there’s anything you need, just pop by or reply to this email!
From Sophie
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