Jeremy Leach

Coming home from holiday

The gravel crunched as hot tyres turned onto the lush green lane we knew so well
Wound-down windows, summer smiles, minds alive with adventures to tell
Nature\'s ripeness hung so heavy, sweetness of harvest drenched the air
Blackberries spotted, swaying grasses, our bronzed skin and tousled hair

 

Slowly gaining the smooth hill\'s brow, evening glowed in contented eyes
The fields still there as weeks before, the stretching shadows and Buzzard\'s cry
Passing by the broad still Oaks our childhood world came into view
The hidden streams and playtime Dens - the secrets that we only knew

 

Like a friend we held so dear, this solid world we\'d sworn for life
Every moment, every second, it had filled our minds both day and night
Dreams and drama through each season, enacted on this intimate stage
A land for us with deep-felt passion, with wonder found on every page

 

But suddenly life threw a feeling, fleeting thoughts pierced innocent minds
A feeling of perhaps betrayal? Perhaps our laughter seemed unkind?
Adventures had without the other, in a new world far away
The fun we\'d had on rock-pooled beaches, screaming at crabs, running from spray

 

Then we shouted at our house, that poked in view far down the lane
The turmoil of our feelings boiled - our normal life was back again
The final turn into the driveway, grass stood tall, strange smells of home
A chapter turned without our knowing, but those around us knew we\'d grown