A great idea for Christmas presents

Lawrence Sail is a British poet of some renown, who for 20 years has been writing poems for the Christmas season that he's sent as cards to friends. Now he has collected them in an illustrated book which he is marketing entirely on behalf of the charity Trusts for African Schools, which supports some of the poorest schools in Africa. I've a friend a headmaster in Kenya, who testifies that it's a charity which uses its money wisely and to good account.

Lawrence's poems are thoughtful, delicate, very observing of nature and with a quiet unfussy originality of language. I've just got the book and it's lovely. Here's the opening poem:

Proofs

Delete leaves, the hum of long evenings, light.
Change to bold the grip of frost, black nights.
Rearrange forest gales, seas steep as stairs.
Italicise the stinging slopes of rain.
Stet the murderous world, heartland of despair.
Indent: in the beginning, begin again.

Insert an asterisk over Bethlehem.
Replace damaged characters with wise men.
Substitute stable for inn, manger for bed.
Transpose caviar and crust, fish and hook.
Realign hope, cherish the hungry and the dead.
Print: weigh in your hand spring's budding book.

Some of the poems have an overtly Christmas theme, others are more generally wintry, but all have that delicate, surprising language, those slopes of rain... What could make a better gift for someone who loves books, or someone who wants to do some good to people other than manufacturers and retailers over the season? As the blurb on the back, written by none other than Archbishop Desmond Tutu, says: "Lawrence Sail's poetry is beautifully pictorial, evocative and deeply thoughtful. I am glad that this collection will help support the education of children in Africa."

The book (£9.99 + p&p) can be bought from Enitharmon and amazon.uk - I daresay Amazons elsewhere in the world will also have it. G'wan, make the Archbish a little happier!