23 SEPTEMBER 1989, Page 53

No. 1595: Dead, stolen or strayed

When Germaine Greer recently wrote about the loss of her parrot, someone in a letters column asked, 'Have we no modern Catullus who could console her by immor- talising this bird in verse?' You have up to 16 lines (two less than Catullus used) to elegise the death or disappearance of a pet, cats and dogs expected. Entries to 'Com- petition No. 1595 by 6 October.