I am thinking about you Annie now that
you are no longer a few miles of motorway
and a couple of roundabouts from us here.
I am remembering the meals, the easy chat
and coffee; farewell coats and hugs in a doorway;
that holiday we shared in Brixham, the fear

of the foot noise on the stair which made us believe
in ghosts that week, the sea house creaking, and the air
screeching and crying with gulls in the dark or light
until the wives couldn’t sleep in the haunted place.