Rose petals filled with ounces of snow bend meekly. Saints sold for less beauty

Fredrik Lloyd

The idea to start the poem-me.com service came to Mr Lassalle when Mr Lloyd spontaneously sent him a poem via the short message service (SMS) available on most mobile phones.

Mr Lassalle said the pair had been friends for more than 30 years, and he had always been a fan of his friend's work, but the SMS poem had particular power because it arrived at a very busy time and forced him to stop and reflect for a moment.

"I find a number of his poems particularly thought-provoking, others create a small smile," he said. "But all of them create a moment of repose."

Many busy people would welcome a chance to pause and think of something other than work, said Mr Lassalle.

Works to order

Mobile phone text messages are hugely popular. In the UK alone, over a billion are now sent every month.

Fields fell apart, separated by the shallow breathing of a damaged fence

Fredrik Lloyd

Many of Mr Lloyd's works are single line poems, thoughts or epigrams that can easily be shoe-horned into the cramped SMS format. Single SMS messages can be a maximum of 160 characters long.

Mr Lassalle said the poet was used to producing works to order and had no problems creating enough poems to keep subscribers amused and entranced.

A subscription for one month's worth of SMS poems costs �4, while a three month supply can be bought for �10.

Mr Lassalle said the service had been launched in late October and had so far garnered 50 subscribers, but he said he expected it to take a while to build up a following.

Stressed workers in need of a dose of repose can subscribe via the poem-me.com website.