A Life
With a cigarette and a cup of tea
she hobbles through the conservatory
to daybreak\'s air and sunlight’s morning kiss.
She inhales the scent of flowers
and drinks her early morning bliss.
They’re tokens of her life upon this hill
where they first lived and where she always will.
They built here to get out of London Town
The war and the bombs had ended
and with new hope they broke fresh ground.
Then came the children and her garden too.
Her boys and girls grew as her garden grew
each blossoming in their own chosen time.
But life can pass like the nighttime dew
one sunrise and you’re past your prime
With the children grown and out on their own
their home seemed empty… They were alone.
Thus began their life of volunteering
Teaching the blind to be archers;
Arrows of love and persevering.
And there was time to paint, a skill renewed
lost in the war and the life that ensued
now expressed as watercolor scenery
of old style thatched-roofed cottages
amid the countryside greenery
Then one was called and the other endured.
Alone, but with home and garden assured
she is left with her life of devotion
a few framed watercolor scenes
and flowers that stir her emotions.
With a cigarette and a cup of tea
she hobbles through the conservatory
to daybreak’s air and sunlight’s morning kiss.
She inhales the scent of flowers
and drinks her early morning bliss.