Agnes Frimston: Why I read a poem to a crying stranger

Agnes Frimston was taken by surprise when a crying woman burst into a bathroom while she on the loo.

Instead of ignoring the person sobbing nearby, Agnes calmed her down enough to find out that her mother had recently died.

Agnes chose to read the words of Kim Addonizio, from the appropriately titled poem 'To the Woman Crying Uncontrollably in the Next Stall’.

"It’s quite rare that you get to shout a poem out a door at a weeing and weeping woman but it felt very apt," Agnes told ITV News.

After feeling incredibly moved by the encounter, Agnes tweeted about it and got hundreds of comments from people with their stories of grieving in public.

Agnes said: "The response online has been astonishing, so many people sharing their experiences of being really sad and largely grief stricken and a stranger passing them a note saying it’ll pass or a free coffee or tissues."

Since then Agnes has kept in touch with the woman via text and encourages others to find comfort in words wherever you find them.

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