Hor d'oeuvre of dry roasted biro

The other night a friend and I demolished a small roast of beef, getting into training for Christmas.

An unexpected addition to the menu was dry roasted biro.

For one dread moment I wondered whether I was the woman who mistook her pen for an aubergine.

But in a flash I solved the mystery. (Applause for Madame Sherlock.) A stray pen could easily be swept up in a tea-towel doubling as oven mitt and deposited in the oven along with a dish of vegetables, couldn't it? So it was served as an hors d'oeuvre with a soupçon of Dijon mustard and a garnish of Moore Wilson semi-dried tomatoes.

Modestly I claim the biro was a success. Tough and dry, I'll grant you that. But an impressive indigo colour and an acerbic literary flavour made it a fine culinary innovation. Recommended.

Wedding song

Wedding song

So you are the hunter

and I am the gatherer

and you are the gardener

and I am the traveller

and I am the dancer

and you are the dance.

And I am the dreamer

and you are the harbour

and you are the future

and I am the farmer

and you are the juggler

and I am the clown.

I see you—I know you—

I love you—I see—

that you are the builder

and I am the weaver

and you are the mover

and I am the mender

and you are the mountain,

and I am the cloud.

And you are the lover

and I am the lover

and we are a twosome

and you are the one.

by Rachel McAlpine, 1996

I originally wrote this wedding poem for friends.
Later I realised that it also fitted another bride and groom: my daughter and her husband.
Eventually the truth dawned: the concepts in this wedding song may make good sense to almost any two people in love and about to marry.

You may share Wedding Song freely, but please include my name as writer.