Dido Is this what you were looking for? Miracle On St David's Day They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude The Daffodils by William Wordsworth An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coal as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun, a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes, the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythm of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb, labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites "The Daffodils". The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech, and that he once had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers silence. A thrush sings, and the daffodils are flame. Gillian Clarke

I have been enjoying the latest season of "Inspector Lewis" on our U.S. PBS television - of course we are very much behind the U.K., who saw these programs at least a year, maybe two years ago. I actually watch them on my computer as I don't have a TV, and I have been looking forward to each one becoming available at midnight on Sunday. I have seen Mr. Plater's name pop up at the beginning of some of these shows, and I know I am in for a treat. The subtle witty dialogue really raises the show above normal television fare, and I usually watch each one at least twice. I am sorry there will be no more, but I am glad that we have what we do.

Thyrkas, I'm delighted and complimented that you're enjoying the production so much. I hope you continue to do so. I'll try and answer your queries and tell you what's what, if I can: I am a playwright and a dramatist. I took the novel The Crowded Street (as I have taken others) and I turned it (wrote it) into a drama in 10x15minute parts for BBC Radio 4 and it was recorded at BBC Drama department in Manchester. The cast was made up of professional actors - eg., the part of Muriel is played by Clare Goose, a well-known TV actress in UK. But I have no part in it, apart from 1 line which you'd never notice - in a crowd scene. I'm a writer, not an actor (though I once played the part of a dog in one of my plays, a dying cockeral in another,... I seem to be good at animal imitations! ) I love radio drama more than anything; love dramatising books like this. I hope I can go on doing it forever! I also have a wonderful producer - we've worked together for about 10 years now. And the fact that you, the discerning audience, enjoy it , makes it all worthwhile. Thank you so much for listening. Thanks, Vee, for posting it. And as you've stayed with it so far, Thyrkas and lemonhead and rosefolly and Vee (Ep. 6, as I'm writing), I hope you'll see/hear it through to the end - it has some surprises. Best of wishes to all, Dido (Diana)

Hello everyone, My name is PAM. I write it in all CAPS as there used to be about five Pam's here and this was an easy way to help differentiate. Not an ego thing, honestly. I hail from central PA. I have been on RP since the mid-1990's and remember the Spike years and being "Disneyed". I visit here regularly but have posted less frequently since I 1) got divorced and 2) started to work full time. But now I am getting back to RP and it feels great to be back "home" amongst friends. George Gissing is my favorite writer and I tend to go on and on about him occasionally. I do enjoy the classics but need to read more of them. As I get older, I find I am spending less time on fluff and more time on the non-fiction and the classics. (Present book club book EXCEPTED... ugh... true crime by Ann Rule.. someone SAVE me, please.) I read almost anything except romance, western and sci-fi. LOVE well-written non-fiction especially micro-histories. I shall definitely be crushed one day by my books. I love to garden but need more time. I enjoy needlework but need more time. And when it comes right down to it... I put away the needlework, let the weeds grow, and pick up a book. I am in three book clubs but often just show up for the wine. (AstroKath... Rosemont Estates is one of my favorites.) My favorite thing about RP is that reading is such a solitary passion (not hobby, PASSION), but here at RP, I can share with like-minded, intelligent, kind, people. Oh, and I am engaged and soon to be married. Life is so good. PAM