For Us

For a friend.

         

We were children, thick as thieves
Grown together, on silent hills
Trudging, quiet; we barely spoke
Our heads tipped to the sun.

Cautious, careful footsteps soft
Through scattered trees we wove,
Armed with sticks to fight the beasts,
That lurked in every grove

We had our spears to make us brave
Gripped tight as daylight fell
Crouched low, to let the meadow grass
seduce me with its smell


At school, but strangers, boy and girl,
Unspoken rules in tact
Ten pace apart, we idled home
Our eyes betrayed no pact

But past that street, friends left behind
Our eyes would meet, and we were together
So young, back gardens stretched out forever
Or we’d just lie silent, too hot to run round
And I’d pick the flowers grown up from the ground.