Thanks everyone for the comments. I wasn't sure if it worked as a poem at
all, but it seems as if it probably does.

It is a 'found poem ' - these are the words of my Great Grandmother Lizzy
Ellen's older brother David who left Blaengarw (a South Wales pit village)
for America in 1905. He sent home photos of himself (looking very posh and
smoking a fat cigar aka tobie)and of the boarding mrs (which I assume means
'mistress', but he wrote it as mrs and I think that means something
different to either 'mistress' or Mrs., somehow) and other young people and
of the huge river dam he was working on.

By lifting his words and playing with them a bit I found that I could make
the poem ask the questions to which I will never have answers  - like did he
ever shag the boarding mrs? 

Bob, the line you are querying is one that I would have preferred to be in
italics. It and the last line form one of those sentimental Edwardian
couplets

Although far from my eyes
So near to my heart

I wanted to break it up a bit so that it said something more about that
paradox - that he 'keeps' it that way

Garw is pronounced somewhere between Garrow and Garroo, with the final vowel
being quite short.

Glad you liked the 'authentic Welsh voice', for which I can take no credit
whatsoever!

Terri

-----Original Message-----
From: The Pennine Poetry Works [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Bob Cooper
Sent: 07 December 2004 16:29
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Postcards from Reno


Hi Terri,
I'm reading this as what's written on the back of postcards, and enjoying it
as such! (I've wondered about the irregular use of Caps: small case for
"mrs" and Caps at line starts and I can go with that...) But I'm finding one
line in the poem, in the last stanza, so difficult to
assimulate:
"Although far from my eyes"
It's also indented and I'm not sure what to make of it for that reason, too.
Can I have a clue, please? Bob