The Evening Watering

summer……… and the sun has fallen now
beyond the moment where it mirrors
neighbours’ windows gold ….       .. the stripe of sky
that rests upon the distant ground
sings green with sinking light

doors are still ajar……………….. …….sound carries
further than you’d ever think it would
blackbirds… robins….. radios
the hissed exchanges from beyond the fence
excuses…….. lies

maybe the warmth makes them forget
the open curtains ……. lulls them
into dreams where they are glass….. invisible
to all outside the bubble
of their consciousness

I fill the can from a slow tap
fast water thunders…. is both alarm and baffle
I don’t care to signal that I’m here
or blunt the bright edge of the conversations
drifting through the laurel

it’s company………….. a sense of being part
of something bigger ..community is what it’s all about
and if I see a naked limb
rest easily against another …………….in sly illicit languor
I’ll hold my tongue

snippets that slip easy through the hedge
find shelter here……. comings……… goings
all safe in gentle recollection
my memory is excellent ……………….I am discreet
and not so short of cash

I keep a china pot for vouchers …….M&S
John Lewis ……………or my favourite
garden centre tokens …………………..my plot’s my pride
no border’s better stocked
no patio so well accessorised

Jan Dean