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Solicitor Ian says it with sweet sonnets

By day he is immersed in a world of legal jargon. But by night, Walsall solicitor Ian Henery is lost in the language of love, penning romantic poems and sonnets.

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By day he is immersed in a world of legal jargon. But by night, Walsall solicitor Ian Henery is lost in the language of love, penning romantic poems and sonnets.

And now, in the run-up to Valentine's Day, he is in with a chance of being named Love Poet of the Year after his work, Heart Cracked Open, featured in an anthology of poems.

The 47-year-old's love affair with poetry began when he was a teenager at Walsall's Blue Coat School and he saw it as a way to woo the ladies.

"I got interested in poetry because I thought it would get me kisses," admits Mr Henery, who runs Ian Henery Solicitors Ltd in Willenhall.

"I thought if I could speak the language of love I might have more of a chance with girls.

"That was when I was about 17 but it's just something I've stuck with.

"I like writing poems of all sorts — not just love poems. It helps to distract you from the day job."

Mr Henery's plan must have worked as he will this year celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary with wife Irene, an accountant.

The solicitor, who lives in Aldridge with Irene and his four daughters, said he would recommend poetry to anyone to help boost their love life.

"It's just something fun when you've been married for 20 years," he said.

"You've got to work at it and persevere to find the romance or you can get stuck in a rut.

"There's nothing wrong with getting in touch with your feminine side and just wooing someone, whether you've been married for 10 years or have just moved in together."

Mr Henery's poem has been selected to appear in a national anthology called Speaking of Love, which is set to be published from February 28 for £19.99.

One poet from the collection will be crowned Love Poet of the Year and will have a book of their work published.

Here is Ian Henery's poem

To taste the sweet thrill

Of her,

Tasted again

And then tormented

By her absence.

Unrequited.

To feel the tsunami of emotion

Rising up,

Like a tempest,

Or a hurricaine,

Only to plummet

Like a stone.

Dead.

Nothing.

No future,

Facing the punishment

Of getting it wrong.

"There has been a misunderstanding."

She sits,

So innocent,

Smiling,

Watching you

The way a vulture watches dying prey.

Dying for you.

"There has been a misunderstanding",

She says

And you feel

As if you could die,

Heart cracked open.

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