Jane stood
in a field of kale
waist high
gazing toward

the Downs
you stood beside her
your hands
just touching

fingers feeling
warmth
cows nearby mooing
we’ll have to go up there

in the summer holidays
she said
take a picnic
mum’ll pack

it for us
she likes you
you gazed at her
sideways on

her dark hair
tied with ribbon
her grey coat
buttoned to the neck

coming to her knees
that’ll be good
you said
I went with my dad

way over one day
while he was working
amongst the trees
and I found small skeletons

amongst the fallen leaves
don’t what it was of though  
probably a squirrel
Jane said

or rabbit
did it look like
it could have been
a rabbit?

no idea
you said
it was small
could have been

a squirrel I guess
I put it in a glass tank
along with chalk rocks
with sea fossils inside

she nodded and smiled
she held your hand tighter
and she drew you
though the kale

toward the edge
of the field
where cows
were eating

the fenced off
kale crop  
and you walked
onto the dusty road

between hedgerows
and down the lane
by your cottage
the lane narrow

the hedges full of birds
and song
and you sensed
her hand in yours

her fingers thin
entwined with your fingers  
and on you walked
by the small stream

at the side
the smell
of the farm
in the air

the cows
and hay
and she there
beside you

her hand
and your hand
her coat sleeve
brushing against

your arm
her eyes
full of dark beauty
her lips slightly open

no words just breath
on the air
and you feeling
that joy of just

being alive
and being there.