Michael Laskey
poet, editor, workshop leader
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On the Other Hand
Rob Lock
A youth – who could be named – stayed in last night,
finished his essay and applied to train for social work.
Emma, aged three, straying from her mum as she fumbled
at a cash point in the Buttermarket, attracted the kindness and tact of a middle-aged man, who found her crying
and involved a group of teenage girls. Julia Dunlop, looking up
from her page, made accidental eye contact with Vern
who will, two children later, propose marriage.
And Mrs Doreen Turner – living for grandchildren,
a cub pack, bingo, and (secretly) cake –
raised a modest amount with an unpublicised swim.
from 'The Self-Forgetting Place'
published 2013
price £5
Rob Lock was brought up in Jersey. He intended entering the ministry but put his faith aside at university. After a career in teaching, mostly in Suffolk, he worked as a caretaker and programmes manager for Mind and, having found the Quakers, a Meeting House warden. He has three children by his first marriage and a cat and various relatives by the second. He is now retired and lives in Bury St Edmunds.