A poem

My friend Kathryn Turnier died on Christmas Day, far too young and with so much to live for. When her papers were being sorted out, it was found that she had written a number of poems, unknown by anyone else. They are very good. Here, by kind permission of her daughter, is one that made me smile. It doesn't have a title but I call it 'Yorkshire Girls'

Yorkshire water is very soft

And so are the hearts of the girls

They built the mills around it

And the work was hard

Weaving and washing, cooking and cleaning

The girls got hard hands

But they laughed

And drank

And danced on Saturdays

And wore short skirts in the bitter cold

Made puddings and parkin

Mothers, then grandmas,

With songs to sing

And tales to tell.