I sat facing forward: that was imperative
To go forward, going back
To the place, to the people,
To the pond and the cathedral on the hill.
This journey first made
A right angle of a clock face ago.
Passenger seat with dad at the wheel.
“Toto” on the stereo filling the little space there was.
We needed petrol at the bottom of the hill,
You got free mugs back then, if you spent enough.
“Here you go,” he may have said.
Our maybe he didn’t say anything.
A green mug with ducks on.
I’ve still got it.
There were ducks on the pond,
at the place, with the people,
at the city with the cathedral on the hill.
My life was packed into that car.
Really packed tight.
I remembered towels then-
Well, mum did. And pillows and duvets,
And other such sensibilities
I’d be grateful for in a few weeks’ time.
I think I just gathered
Music and addresses,
Memories and dresses.
I can’t remember packing at all –
I probably didn’t.
Just the mug with the ducks on,
But that wasn’t packed-
I held it all the way in case it cracked.
Now we’re back on tracks, four of us,
Lifted from a familiar life once more:
Just for a little while.
Pulled, facing forward: going back
Travelling lighter this time.
Life weighing a little heavier on our shoulders, maybe?
But a lightness in our chests
A gravity in our steps
A steadiness in our minds – this time.
It’s all still there, a few hours away
Steady. Solid. Waiting for us.
When these tracks take us
To the ducks, on the pond,
With the people we met-
At the place with the cathedral
On the hill.