Recently whilst clearing my loft
I found a faded watercolour
That I had painted some years ago
It was a rough view of three oast houses
Along with a barn and a few outbuildings
Jane and I were strawberry picking
At a farm some miles from Maidstone in rural Kent
I can remember its creation as if it was yesterday
The long walks in the high summer fields
And the natural swims in the nearby river
I was reminded of the broken lock on the washroom door
Which I guarded when Jane was in the shower
The ancient church at the bottom of the narrow lane
And the cricket pavilion built in the nineteen fifties
But looking as if it had been built before the two wars
I can recall my future wife watching cricket in her black bikini
And the extraordinary number of dropped catches in the outfield
These were the days of orange teas and bumble bees
Of quiet afternoons spent under shady trees
Which still linger fruitfully in our recent memories
The oast houses and the outbuildings are now residential
And they look quite splendid within this once active farm
The barn like the fields have seen better days and are now resting
Perhaps asleep as much has changed during the passing of the years
But little has really changed here in this soft but forgotten Kent valley
West Farleigh August 2020