Secret Poet

[annie]

A Hartlepool hair salon has joined a growing collection of businesses around the country being sent mystery poems.

They are signed by "composer Mark Jones" and are posted from Lancashire.

Raffaele Hairdressing manageress Clare Harper said she was "bewildered" by the first one but had now received four, which she has framed.

She said they had become a talking point with customers, though her husband had asked if any of them "looked like they had a crush on her".

"I'm waiting for the next one coming, I'm practically on the doorstep now," she said.





Clare HarperImage copyright Clare Harper
Image caption
Clare Harper said it made a change from talking about where customers were going on holiday

The mystery author has been posting poems, written on black card in silver pen, around the country for more than five years.

He has sent five to a salon in Penygroes in Gwynedd and seven over three years to a salon in Lancashire.

There are reports of poems being sent to Yeovil Town and Hednesford Town football clubs, churches and salons in the north-east of England and hotels in Aberystwyth and Machynlleth in Mid Wales, among others.

They appear to be love poems and each include the phrase "keep your chin up, keep smiling".

Some recipients have attempted to find the poet but with no success
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-34212458