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You're listening to Away With Words. I'm Grant Barrett.

And I'm Martha Barnett. For 341 years, the poet's laureate of Britain have all been men. That changed recently. Britain's new poet laureate is Carol Ann Duffy. Her work's been described as dealing with the darkest turmoil and the lightest minutiae of everyday life.

Her poems include such diverse characters as lovers, depressed dolphins, and psychopaths.

Now, that might sound like an odd choice for somebody whose work traditionally involves

writing flattering poems for the royals.

In the past, they've penned verses commemorating major royal events like coronations and weddings

and mundane ones, like the illness of a prince or his return from a trip abroad.

Now, as you might expect, Carol Ann Duffy has said she's going to use the position of Poet Laureate

as a kind of bully pulpit to promote poetry in

general. And she's won top awards for her poetry. And she also writes poems for children.

Here's one, Grant. It's called Glad. You ready?

Mm-hmm.

Glad we don't have to bark. Glad we don't have to cock one leg and wee on a lamp post. Glad we don't have to

cluck or lay an egg. Glad we don't have to moo, nay, bah, eat grass or hay, be milked, fleeced,

ridden. Glad we don't have to hoot, hang from the thread of a web, sting, slither.

Glad we don't have to mew, eat mice, peck, breathe through gills, dwell in shells or form a chrysalis, hiss, hum, hover.

Glad we don't have to kip upside down in the dark, bark.

Grant, to be honest, I'm not really sure what to make of that.

Does it all sound like that?

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