I am in my brother’s garden
Alone
It is early, it is a mid-June afternoon
My brother lives, I suppose you could call it country
But not a country estate, nor a county seat
Not in the grandest sense
Not a Chatsworth or a Balmoral
Or somewhere in the old East Indies
Anyhow
Here I am
Here and now and writing
Then
Could I ask you please
Just for a moment
To choose
To choose your own favourite location
And
Then
For this moment
You may listen to the waves splash
If it is by the sea
That you wander
Or paddle or splash
Back here now
I sit on this wooden bench
A close fit two seater
Listen, I can hear the birdsong
I can hear the flap of wing
I can hear, can you
I can hear the buzzing fly
This is a time
Unplanned
Here I am
Alone
With nothing needing to be done
Nothing at all, now
At this time
Is expected of me
Can you imagine such a time
When all that is to be done
Is that which comes
From within your own imagination
Imagine
Time for thoughtful recreation
Spontaneous
Blameless contemplation or action
I guess the grass was cut a few days ago
Anyway the shed is locked
No access for me to the mower
Unless of course I act wilfully
Break and enter
But why would I
When instead I can sit here
In the sun, in the shadow
Sit here
And write for you
While I listen
To those bloody wailing dogs
Next door’s dogs
Also listen
To the washing machine
Or spin dryer, or vacuum cleaner
Or even
From number 43
The dishwasher
And refrigerator
Hanging baskets and security lights
Give a place a comfort, don’t you think
Especially
With all these mid-day deliveries
And hooded youths
Whose school hours
Seem so different
To those of my own time
It’s the world cup this teatime
Last Saturday 31 million people
And you know that is an awful lot
31 million people, of my own country
Watched England’s opening game
In their homes
And in the more than public places
Where rowdiness endures
A win tonight
Almost seals our progress
We play Trinidad and Tobago
Which is in the Caribbean
And now I wonder
The noise having died down
Did we not once own our own country garden
Just as my brother owns this
Did we not
So so much more uniquely
Once own that island locale
So so much more completely
And for that moment
Did I listen to the waves splash
As by the sea I wandered
And paddled and crashed
