Fran Reader

Fran Reader (originally an ‘Essex girl’) has been writing poetry since the age of eight and has lived in Suffolk since 1990.

After retiring from a career in gynaecology she has reinvented herself through her love of poetry by gaining an MA in Creative Writing with Poetry through the Open University.

Since Autumn 2017 Fran has been Editor of Suffolk Poetry Society’s Twelve Rivers magazine.

Conversation with my Father

I caught you, once, conducting Khatchaturian
with a tea towel. The damp baton beckoned
me into your domestic space. A child,
who watched you wipe your eyes and lose
yourself in the enormity of woven sound
where keyboard and orchestra converse.

You were the man in our house of women
who found solitude after Sunday lunch.
Your normal routine, to shoo children away,
released you to co-opt the right vinyl
for your mood while you washed and dried
in the required peace of Mahler or Brahms.

Now, my iPod stifles the dishwasher’s hum
and repeats our wordless conversation.

Copyright © 2018 Fran Reader