Compliment Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

The Compliment
At the Pharmacy I met Hans, an old friend I didn`t recognise
him at first he wore glasses and had a Nordic face I thought
it was me ten years ago; he has a sheep farm, the Germans,
are an industrial people.
At the green-grocer, I met an Irish woman she recognised me
from one of my books she has some of them and I was chuffed.
When I meet someone who has read my books, it is not often,
I take a step back in fear they might be critical of my spelling-
mistakes I have no self- confidence therefore to meet one
who likes what I have written and does not tell me how to write
I grow a little and decorously blush and go home tell my wife
all about it then we have lunch and I have to clean the dishes.