There in a garden with flower beds
Laid out with a patch of green between
And old pink roses smelling of cold cream
Spread out in an oval ring
Asparagus fern blows in the wind
Sending its red seeds into the lawn
The birds sing in a damson tree
And I sit upon a rubber tyre swing.

So I recall those warmest days
When there was nothing but play
And the quietness of those times
When my mind was mine
Never went away.

Dear little girl in your simple dress
Lying with the sun
Watching the shadows move about
Their shapes cast on the ground.
Finding only what was good
Under the prickly gooseberry bush
And ants and snails to watch all day
With fondness and respect.

But time and peace end in ways
None of us expect
But the Beauty of those years
None of us regret.


Love Mary ***