The chirps of colourful birds fill the air
you are strolling in a park, the sun is high
high at just the right height to make a man
dream of a delightful picnic for two.
What do you do if between you
and the most beautiful woman
you’ve ever seen is a row of chest-high shrubs
that continue for a hundred feet?
What can you do but keep your eyes on her.
And though she keeps looking down
it’s beautiful how (just at the right moment
with a synchrony only love can orchestrate)
she always looks up to return your smile.
So you keep your eyes on her
as you walk along the hedge
like you are walking down an isle
you walk along the hedge, dreaming
of beautiful Saturday mornings
stone church spires, a smiling priest
and a solemn first kiss.
So you carefully match her stride, counting down
to the moment you both run out of hedge
and unite forever at its end.
It was a hundred, now it’s six
now it’s five feet, it’s four, now it’s three.
now it’s two feet separating you and eternal bliss
now it’s one, your heart stops.
And there she is, smiling
smiling down at her new-born baby
in a pram hidden by the shrubs all this while
as not far behind, her other youngster
hand grasping a toy, mouth plugged with a pie
is dragged along by his hunk of a Dad.
