During the early months of our relationship

Jane and I travelled to the Medway Valley

To harvest strawberries in England’s garden

That said we limited our time in the fields

As apart from the frequent strawberry battles

The work could be tedious and very tiring

But to me it was something rather exciting

As I had discovered my personal Shoreham

It was a summer of long walks and milk machines

Of cream teas and lazy hours under trees

During my time there I purchased a paperback

From a grocers shop not far from the railway station

The Stranger by Albert Camus was an odd choice

But my selection was limited to the extreme

I can recall reading it in the furnace fields

As Jane drifted in the warm breezes next to me

We often visit our memories on hot July days

But never really create the music of our recent past