Occasionally, I slip one of my own poems, under a pseudonym, into my radio program, 'Writer's from the Vault.' I don't do this in any vain way, thinking that I somehow belong amongst great writers. I am not a great writer but I am a reasonably competent amateur poet.

Often there is a minute or two at the end of a program when I need some filler other than a book review and this is where I can insert my own work. Now and then there is a theme emerging and I have the exact poem to match. For example, a recent program featured the poem 'Broadcast' by Philip Larkin. I wrote about a similar subject (listening to a live radio broadcast with a woman as the subject) called 'Pianist' and they sat beautifully together.

I admit I was nervous about it. Larkin is a master and I am not but in the end, they actually work very well side by side. Leastways, I think so.