Most of us can remember our first kiss, whether it was glorious and transporting or merely awkward. Kissing, it transpires, can happen anywhere on a train, in a city park or against a kitchen fridge. The poems dramatise the fact that a kiss can make time stand still or send us into a dizzy spin: And the world all whirling Round in joy Like the dance of a dervish - from 'Kisses in the Train' by DH Lawrence The selection wouldn't be complete without a sly antidote to all this romance, which is why we've included Mary Ruefle's 'Why I Am Not A Good Kisser' with its inventory of things not to do or think about when a kiss is in the offing