The inspiration for this poem came from….a pair of gloves. And my wife Ann’s kindness. Ann always buys multiple presents for most of the family, especially at Christmas. We were just leaving a gift and card shop in the approach to Christmas, 2024, when Ann spotted a pair of pink satin gloves with buttons along the wrists and bought them for our daughter, Claire.
A week or so later Ann showed me the gloves before wrapping them in gift paper – and the idea for a poem came into my head. I knew that Shakespeare’s father, John, was a master glover. So why not write a poem as if John Shakespeare had written to his son enclosing a pair of gloves as a present?
I’d not written any poetry for several years. In fact, I thought the well had dried up completely. It’s one of those aspects of ageing, or so I thought. After all, I was approaching my 80th birthday. But around two hours later I had the gist of the poem written out in longhand with many deletions, scribbles and additions. Several days of tweaking, and the poem was complete. Or nearly complete.
The original title was far too long – A glove-maker’s letter in a Christmas gift to his son, Wil. But that’s the title that was submitted with the poem for the Poetry Kit 2025 international poetry competition. They must have managed to get past the title, because it gained a commendation from the competition judge.
I hope you enjoy the poem with its trimmed-down title, and that it speaks for all parents and their unconditional love for their children.