A couple of hours later he worked up courage to confront my father, which turned out to be something of an anti-climax because my father had no idea about Robert's part in drama. When Robert tiptoed into my room he handed me a sheet of paper; he had written a poem for me as he sat across street from my house. I remember how thrilled I was that someone would do such a thing. It was like something out of a novel or a movie.

I kept that poem, which ran to one and a half legal pages, for a number of years, until it disappeared when we moved house a decade later. But I still remember first four lines:

Her name is Marguerite I very much like that girl She means much more to me Than any gem or pearl

That was a lifetime ago and yet those words remain in my memory.

As for boy himself, by time I got back to school Robert had moved on to greener pastures (he now liked my best friend's new best friend). But that hardly mattered as I was now a minor celebrity because I got hit by a bus while chasing a boy. The nuns had a field day praying for my soul, which was not last time they'd engage in that futile exercise.

My right foot is still a little flatter than my left but it was worth it for notoriety. And hey, Robert, wherever you are, thanks for memory.

Using Other People's Love Poems

If you don't have Robert's literary talent, there is another option. Find an existing poem that best expresses how you feel and present it to your lover inside a greeting card or gift.

There are a number of sites online that offer love poems. You can find a list on our web site.

Voice recognition

No, not computer software type: type that happens when Joe `phones a friend. Joe says: "Hello." and friend instantly says "Hi, Joe." If you write as yourself, your loyal readers will reach stage where they recognise your work from reading a fragment without needing any clue from a by-line.

If you have something interesting to say, there is no need to put on a phoney voice (unless your intention is to make your audience laugh). You will probably not get to be President if you make all your speeches in style of Homer Simpson. If you decide to put your message in writing, you should write it in your own words and in your own way. When you write, you have your own voice and you should not try to disguise it. Allow your audience to hear your voice and become familiar with it. Of course not everybody will like your voice one hundred percent all of time: there is not one thing in this world which is liked by everybody always.

None of us is perfect

I don’t mean this in terms of never making a mistake: I just mean that, as human beings we all have imperfections. Keats says "Beauty is truth, truth beauty". I heartily concur but imperfections are, like beauty, in eye of beholder; a matter of personal taste. What is a blemish to you might be an endearing feature to me. There are also degrees of imperfection. A minor imperfection in an otherwise excellent work may be overlooked. A similar imperfection in bad piece of work might be final straw which prompts reader to throw book across room and vow never to read anything else by that author.

Whilst reading works of horror fiction by some of my favourite fiction writers, I have found repeated use of certain words irritating; for some reason I dislike use of "umbra" and "orb" in place of shadow and eyeball. (The subject matter of these books is of necessity dark and grisly things frequently happen to eyes.) As remainder of work is perfection (in my orbs, anyway) I am able to forgive this minor irritation and still eagerly anticipate each new publication by these authors. Other readers might be impressed by use of these alternative nouns or not even notice them. Whatever your imperfection might be, never ever compound it with sloppiness. You cannot help being less than perfect, that is part of being human; there is no excuse for offering sloppy workmanship.