(As another brief interlude, I think I'll post a reading of this poem for a second myspace.com/walkaboutsverse piece - and hopefully borrow a digital camera for an accompanying photo...)

173: VALLEY VIEWS - AUTUMN 2001

The winds can whistle and the walls can creak,
    But from my beloved old rocking-chair,
Through a rhombus-patterned lounge-room window,
    The Tyne-valley views induce one to stare:...