(Mine)
I need to recall memories of when I was young,
As I listen to how much my ageing mother has forgotten,
Remembering growing up in a countryside idyll,
Picking cowslips in a dress of gingham cotton.
Aged five, I saw a dragonfly, a monster of the air,
With a wooden rake I made the iridescent sheaves of hay,
One day the front field flooded, so I paddled in the sea,
There were hours and hours and hours to every day.
Playing the kazoo in the Sunday School procession,
Following the village band, sun glinting off the brass,
Proud I was to sing, with my father in the choir,
Weaving round the maypole, egg sandwich picnics on cropped grass.
Singing 'Mary's Boy Child' for a close friend of my gran',
Getting sixpence for it, a fortune to me, thank you,
Wind howling down the hillside, snow drifts heralding, 'no school',
Making ice caves, going sledging, going home soaked through.
Given a ride on a huge charger, a dappled, white horse,
So momentous, his 'Shining Tanner' name I still recall,
Meadow Avenue, still fronted by a wavy field of green,
Playing house, swinging on joists as new buildings rose, tall.
Hanging upside down from the bars on the local 'rec',
Biking miles and miles through limestone dales, alone,
'Telecommunication', the word picked for charades at school!
Good Heavens! That's what I thought!
Thank goodness I am grown.
So Mother, please dont worry, share my memories with me,
As yours fade, I have enough for both of us, you know,
You were always there, contained, and waiting patiently for me,
That's why the bond will never break, and I will always love you so.
