In an Age of Elegance
When I was about eight years old I visited Windsor with my school to see the Queen
It was a tepid day and we had been waiting for quite a while
My thoughts wandered
I saw an elegant couple walking slowly along the Long Walk
Where shortly I hoped the Queen would pass
My teacher a Miss Finch was reading a Jane Austen novel in the shade of a tree
I looked at her and she smiled at me
We were having the same thoughts
I do not recollect seeing the Queen pass
But remember the couple
Who were not yet holding hands
The soldier ruffled my hair and the woman gave me a silver sixpence
How smart he was and I was already in love with his beloved
I still have the silver sixpence
But I no longer visit Windsor
Angel
Whilst waiting for a train
I watched as a falling angel
Created a pastel pink vapour trail
As she slipped from the declining moon
I moved into a nearby field
And opened my arms
In readiness to catch her
But she fell elsewhere
The Coaching Years
The roads in the village are quite smooth
Any memories of your rough passage have long been extinguished
New bridges have replaced the old
And the once wide fields and meadows are now enclosed
Only the rural ghosts remember you now
And they too are fading as time passes slowly by
2018