Friendly Florence

Poet-in-Residence, in his new role of Poet Fellow (see below), is just the bard to record a famous incident involving two royal canines for poetic posterity. Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate, probably has enough to do - recording birthdays and so on.

Friendly Florence

Friendly Florence is mostly white.
She has a full set of smiley teeth
in her piggy head and
supports hunting with hounds.

Friendly Florence has a bad memory.
But she remembers the corgis -
those Welsh dwarfs with their fox-like
heads and short legs.

She remembers the one she clamped
in her full set of smiley teeth. It was
grandma's favourite. Blood flowed
redder than a guardsman's tunic.

Tears flowed and upper lips quivered
in the garden when grandma's
favourite was buried to the strains of
The Last Post
and a one gun salute.

Florence is not to be invited for Christmas
said grandma
finally.


c)- Gwilym Williams