25th April 2020

cold air
sweeps in with clouds
sheltering moths

© Rachel Green 2020

A perfect circle of trees
almost on the horizon
and a nice day for walking.
We were ten, or twelve,
that indeterminate age
between childhood
and teenage angst
looking for adventure
(but be home by tea-time)
with egg sandwiches
and a bottle of pop.
Along the canal
as far as the poplar trees
then the footpath through the horse field
and across the Birmingham road
to the cornfield (which was wheat,
green as ive and tall as our waists)
across the stream and through the park.
Following footpaths
we'd never used before,
the hours of morning passed
until at lunchtime
we arrived in Rowney Green
having missed the wood entirely
because it's hard to see a landmark
when you're walking through it.

© Rachel Green 2020