Schematic

Thank you for the smell of wood smoke.

/

Four assured and hopeful hands

That know the rough of bark.

Digits of oak, elm and ash

Have guided and marked,

Palms placed on the small of the back.

/

Gently schooling me with lessons of

Charity, lavender and Poirot.

/

Teaching me the importance of

Freshly picked blackberries and

Oil stained overalls.

Of coastal horizons pregnant with rainclouds,

Eggs and soldiers to start the day.

/

The quiet power of restraint,

The wisdom of wet paint,

Pale ale

Scalextric, seagulls and scones.

Coffee soaked photos and hard work.

/

Patience in love,

Patience when crabbing.

The foolish wonder of horoscopes

And knowing how to read the signs,

Busy bookshelves and Cornish copper mines.

/

The hands slightly tremble now,

Shivering with accumulative time.

/

Yet they still steer steady.

Resting on my shoulders,

Correcting my posture,

Reminding me to say thank you to strangers.

/

I am grateful to have these gentle weights

So there they will stay.

/

I suppose this is just to say –

Thank you for showing me how to

Take something apart

And put it back together.

/

I practise this every day

/

– For John and Barbara