Dreaming of diamonds: What it would have been like at the Ambani wedding
This week, poet and artist Frieda Hughes joins the Kardashians, Blairs and Boris Johnson in the champagne skies of her imagination
![](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/08/11/12/Frieda.png?quality=75&width=137&auto=webp)
![This week I did not attend the Ambani Hindu wedding [unlike Tony and Cherie Blair] / So studded with diamonds, emeralds and pearls of such size](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/07/13/05/India_Ambani_Wedding_76688.jpg)
DUCK’S DELIGHT
This week I did not attend the Ambani Hindu wedding
So studded with diamonds, emeralds and pearls of such size
That they would have punctuated the skies in my imagination
Like stars, for years to come. Nor did I witness
English footballers lose the Euros final
From the sweaty sidelines of their disappointment,
Or watch the last of Wimbledon from the drizzled-on edges
Of the centre court. Instead, I negotiated the weight
Of a motorbike against my physical limitations
And rode the back roads to Bala, where the furrowed lake
Laid out the fractured heavens for windsurfers to struggle with
The bare whisper in the movement of air, and the ducks
Noticed my rucksack bag of brown bread being broken
Into as many pieces as I could get out of it.
Their curious little heads drew closer, the orange of their feet
Brighter than the most extravagant wedding shoes,
Their eyes fixed on food more faithfully than any footballer,
Their gently enquiring beaks, warm to the touch, more successful
In mid-air target-management than a pro-held tennis racket.
So much joy from a fast ride, half a loaf and many feathered heartbeats.