Yesterday's Child

Fiddleheads in the garden
slowly unfurling
Lilies-of-the-Valley
not yet belling
the Manchu Cherry
sprinkling white confetti
on the vibrant green
of urgent grass
and swallows executing
their preying arabesque
while beyond the sun,
a pyromaniac's frantic dream
slips behind the houses.

Sitting idly on the swing
spring air filters
through the maple's
tender thrusts
as bees target straight for home
and the mesmerizing hum
of the neighbour's mower
returns growth to order.

The children
never recall other years
only living in the warmth
of the breeze
pulling stray hairs
beyond the spiralling
loops of the bicycle.
Memory of another child
yaps close behind the
flushed faces of
this spring day's children.

Originally published in Early Harvest