In this episode, Sam talks about the poem that has been a friend to him – 'The Hug' by Thom Gunn.
Sam visited The Poetry Exchange in Manchester Central Library, as part of the celebrations of International Mother Languages Day in the city.
Many thanks to our partners Manchester Libraries, The Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University and Manchester UNESCO City of Literature.
www.manchester.gov.uk/libraries
www.manchesterwritingschool.co.uk/
www.manchestercityofliterature.com/
Sam is in conversation with The Poetry Exchange team members, Sarah Butler and Alistair Snell.
Sarah reads the gift reading of 'The Hug'.
*****
The Hug
It was your birthday, we had drunk and dined
Half of the night with our old friend
Who'd showed us in the end
To a bed I reached in one drunk stride.
Already I lay snug,
And drowsy with the wine dozed on one side.
I dozed, I slept. My sleep broke on a hug,
Suddenly, from behind,
In which the full lengths of our bodies pressed:
Your instep to my heel,
My shoulder-blades against your chest.
It was not sex, but I could feel
The whole strength of your body set,
Or braced, to mine,
And locking me to you
As if we were still twenty-two
When our grand passion had not yet
Become familial.
My quick sleep had deleted all
Of intervening time and place.
I only knew
The stay of your secure firm dry embrace.
Thom Gunn, "The Hug" from The Man with Night Sweats. Copyright © 1992 by Thom Gunn. Used by permission of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, LLC, http://us.macmillan.com/fsg. All rights reserved
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