The Square Cow in Wickham has stolen chair returned with a "brilliant" apology poem

Frank Dixie, the landlord of The Square Cow in Wickham, had released an appeal on Facebook for the return of a chair stolen from outside the pub at night. The next morning he was relieved to see it had been brought back, but also delighted by a poem of apology from the perpetrator.

The chair was taken when the pub were hosting a band so staff had moved some of the furniture outside to make room. When they came to bring them back in, one was missing. Having checked the CCTV, Frank knew exactly who it was.

He said: “We knew who it was because we have CCTV, but rather than name and shame them I decided to give the perpetrator the chance to do something about it. I put something on Facebook asking for whoever stole it to give it back and this was the response I got.”

The chair had been returned, but with it was the below poem titled The Chair Left Outside:

I took it, yes, that leather throne,

Abandoned there, cold and alone.

Outside the pub, beneath the sky,

Its silent frame caught my wondering eye.

The moonlight gleamed on its weathered face,

A relic left in that quiet place.

Perhaps forgotten, cast aside,

But something in me swelled with pride.

“This chair deserves a better fate,”

I thought, and carried its heavy weight.

Through cobbled streets and whispered air,

I hauled away that lonely chair.

But now I see, as guilt takes hold,

This wasn't-its story’s old.

It bore the weight of strangers’ spines,

Of drunken talks and closing times.

A sentry there for years before,

It doesn't belong behind my door.

So here I come, at break of day,

To put it back where it should stay.

Outside the pub, beneath the light,

I leave it there to greet the night.

A leather throne for tales to share,

Forgive me, friend-I’ve returned your chair.

The poem turned what was an annoying incident for Frank into a memorable and amusing one. He said: “I think it is brilliant. I have written back to say well done for bringing it back with the right attitude. Lets face it, it’s a chair at the end of the day, it’s not the crown jewels, but it’s all been done in the right way, and what a great poem.”

Frank is keeping the identity of the rogue poet to himself but it has reminded him of another artist who conducts his work at the dead of night.

He said: “I think he is the new Banksy of Wickham. We will know when he has hit again by the poem left behind.”

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Watch the video embedded in this article for an interview with Frank.