I don't think anybody actually said the word but many had it on their lips that afternoon and it was definitely in the air when the rain started being English we were used to Michael Fish presenting the weather and saying such things as It's all change, I'm afraid on a bank holiday when you wanted to go for a walk or a ramble even 'round the corner to the shops but that Monday was different in other ways that were not so obvious the heather was more scented for instance whites and purples and reds were more vibrant as well and while I breathed the soul of self-forgetfulness and practised the art of self-effacement and yielded to hope and bewitchment yet I failed to scan or to rhyme lacking meter or repetition yet returning with the spirit of something vaguely poetic was it ecstasy I wonder was it still verse however blank or blue was it Nietzsche going back to shake hands with Hegel spurring the horse ...