On Friday 6th November 2026, I chose to start the Read Aloud Ledbury group with the poem, ‘Not Love Perhaps’ by A.S.J. Tessimond. I’d discovered it in a set of pamphlets I borrowed from The Reader organisation’s library at Calderstones Mansion House the last time I visited my mum in Liverpool.
This is not Love, perhaps,
Love that lays down its life,
that many waters cannot quench,
nor the floods drown,
But something written in lighter ink,
said in a lower tone, something, perhaps, especially our own.A need, at times, to be together and talk,
And then the finding we can walk
More firmly through dark narrow places,
And meet more easily nightmare faces;
A need to reach out, sometimes, hand to hand,
And then find Earth less like an alien land;
A need for alliance to defeat
The whisperers at the corner of the street.A need for inns on roads, islands in seas,
Halts for discoveries to be shared,
Maps checked, notes compared;
A need, at times, of each for each,
Direct as the need of throat and tongue for speech.
I read the poem aloud, and then (after a pause full of silent thoughts} I asked if somebody would like to read it again. After the second reading, conversation started to flow among the six of us sitting together around the large table in Ledbury Library’s Victorian Room.
We don’t always agree, but there was a definite consensus among us that the poem was describing love. We questioned A.S.J. Tessimond choice of title, ‘Not Love Perhaps’. For all of us, the words described a sense of connection and of love – even if the intensity of the opening lines was missing. For some, the words brought to mind a couple in love. Others highlighted the repetition of the word ‘need’…
One of the reasons I had chosen to share the poem was because it spoke to me of our times together as a shared reading group. I love being part of Read Aloud Ledbury and I particularly relate to the lines, which begin, ‘A need, at times, to be together and talk…’. The group often meets these needs for me. Others agreed. Everyone seated around the table voiced their appreciation for the opportunities the group gives us to learn from each other and come away with ‘Maps checked, notes compared;‘.
The poem reminded one of us of the lyrics of a Placido Domingo song, ‘Perhaps Love’, which explores how love means different things to different people at different times. We found the lyrics and a YouTube recording of Placido Domingo and John Denver performing the song, which we read and listened to. The words stirred more memories, thoughts and feelings and gave us more ‘discoveries to be shared‘.
Perhaps love is like a resting place
A shelter from the storm
It exists to give you comfort
It is there to keep you warm
And in those times of trouble
When you are most alone
The memory of love will bring you homePerhaps love is like a window
Perhaps an open door
It invites you to come closer
It wants to show you more
And even if you lose yourself
And don’t know what to do
The memory of love will see you throughOh, love to some is like a cloud
To some as strong as steel
For some a way of living
For some a way to feel
And some say love is holding on
And some say letting go
And some say love is everything
And some say they don’t knowPerhaps love is like the ocean
Full of conflict, full of pain
Like a fire when it’s cold outside
Or thunder when it rains
If I should live forever
And all my dreams come true
My memories of love will be of youAnd some say love is holding on
And some say letting go
And some say love is everything
And some say they don’t knowPerhaps love is like the ocean
Full of conflict, full of pain
Like a fire when it’s cold outside
Or thunder when it rains
If I should live forever
And all my dreams come true
My memories of love will be of you
The line ‘The memory of love will see you through‘ feels particularly poignant as I prepare for the second Stories On Saturday community event at Ledbury Library on Saturday 14th November. I continue to hope that – through the pages of my beloved picturebooks – the gold thread of literature will weave ‘memories of love‘ into the tapestry of the lives of those who come.
And I really hope people (little and big) do come…
Beautiful poem and lyrics Julia and I love the sound of your group too! How blessed are those local to you who get to spend time with you and soak in beautiful words! The words that stood out for me were
“Perhaps love is like the ocean
Full of conflict, full of pain”
and I thought at first how strange to describe the ocean as full of conflict, full of pain when it is full of such utterly stunning creatures but then I thought about the author, who, like me, may have experienced the ocean as something painful rather than beautiful. In my case, the place of my father’s death. It’s always interesting to me the insight one gets about an author of a blog, a book, a song, a poem, through the way they use words. In this case I feel a connection yet I don’t even know the person. It’s made me think of the hymn writer too whose children were lost at sea and how because of that unimaginable pain, one of the most profoundly hope-filled hymns was written.