RHYME AND REASON

You reported me as being 'too shy' to submit one of my poems to the Gazette.

No wonder with armchair critics like your correspondent, Richard Lilley of Bowling & Co (see [2001] Gazette, 8 November, 15).

While we can all stand up and present a case, it takes bravery to make your creative work available for public scrutiny.

Far from being lampooned, Poet in the City has received positive coverage in, among others, The Economist, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, The Guardian and Radio 4, which has actually raised the status and standing of the profession.

Members of the public are delighted to learn that lawyers have pursuits and interests over and above winning clients and increasing billing targets.

Bearing in mind the public's sometimes cynical view that the profession's motives are purely self-seeking and self-interested, this can only be a good thing.Even Michael Bywater, of The Independent on Sunday, who came to a Poet in the City event to 'pick holes, sneer, find the flaw, expose it for the City trickery it surely must be' had to confess 'but I can't' and then went on to praise its work in businesses and schools.I hope Mr Lilley will see how much fun Poet in the City is, and join us for our next event with poet, Wendy Cope, at Dechert on 11 December.Rosamund Smith, chairwoman, Poet in the City, and partner, Bates, Wells & Braithwaite