A Life

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.