Frances Sackett has lived in Marple for 21 years. She is a poet and writer of short stories. Living in North Wales as a child and now near a city, has influenced her work in very diverse ways.
    Whilst landscape is a constant inspiration, the connections between
history, landscape and other cultures provide an increasing influence on her writing.

                    Lap Top

He takes her into Road Chef ;
She's slim, in office grey.

Between his scone and pot of tea
He lifts her face to his;

Downloads her from her cloister
And mimes a little kiss.

She follows his manoeuvres,
Laps up his every word,

Her spelling is immaculate - 
His eyes can't move from hers.

His fingers on her image
Will shift and ask for help:

The contract will be sanctioned,
The code will say UNDO.

And isn't this the dream of every business man?
His PA on his knee.

With over a hundred poems published in literary journals or broadcast on the radio, her first collection, The Hand Glass draws on a wide
variety of subjects. "Gathering wood" for example creates a poetry of
reflections and refractions, whereas a feeling for how history interacts with the present pervades "Change of weather at Conwy".
The Hand Glass costs £5.95, and can be obtained from bookshops or direct from the publisher Seren.

Frances is now working on her latest collection of poems.