Octogenarian Aleksandr Svetlov keeps life simple these days, warding off loneliness with quiet routines and the company of his old cohort, Konstantin, or his young friend, the verse-writing bookseller Mikhail. A married man by training and temperament, his late wife's absence is a constant presence. Presented by the poet Colette Bryce, this selection of Svetlov's gentle 'observations' sings of his unwavering sense of the realities of life.