slip-sliding away…..

Back when you were seven,
we used to have play picnics
in the sun-soaked back yard,
in the middle of the working day
before I had to return
to the bore of adult occupations.

We’d pretend to cut and eat
a cake filled with fruit pieces,
seasoned with
grass, leaves, and flowers,
before you’d pour us
imaginary tea.
Then we’d clink our cups
before sipping,
pinkies out
(of course),
followed by the chorus of
“Best tea party ever!”

And though those were dark times –
early in the pandemic,
no indication
of whether life would ever return to normal –
those few minutes
brought light to my days…
beautiful times together,
when the outside world
was a mere distraction,
and home was our fortress of peace.

And that home –
which we loved so much,
was later enhanced;
made even more beloved,
though all the renovations in the world
could never expand
the constrained space within
which would lead us away
just a short time later.

And now,
three years after
those tea parties of old,
we again sit
in that sun-soaked back yard,
hearing the birds sing once more
as they flitter from tree to tree,
mountain in the distance,
while the afternoon sun
warms our gathering of two,
re-introducing Bubbles and Bubba –
our shadow twins,
who we rarely notice nowadays.

We roll the die,
and move multi-coloured pieces
over a miniature game board
towards their home spaces,
as this home’s spaces
prepare to be handed over
to the next family.

And for them,
we pray,
that the peace we held
will match the peace they dwell
in
as they begin
a new chapter
in this blessed
House of Peace.