Things -- Fleur Adcock

[1934–current, born New Zealand, but spend most of life in England]

There are worse things than having behaved foolishly in public.
There are worse things than these miniature betrayals,
committed or endured or suspected; there are worse things
than not being able to sleep for thinking about them.
It is 5 a.m. All the worse things come stalking in
and stand icily about the bed looking worse and worse and worse.

Source: Adcock, F 1991, Selected Poems, Oxford University Press.

Because my mother and father … -- Kate Bingham

[1971–current, English]

Because my mother and father
hurt each other
I will abandon you

sooner or later
somebody will learn
from the experience

that imitation
has nothing to do
with flattery.

Source: Bingham, K 1998, Cohabitation, Seren.