So, it is March, and with it have arrived storms which have brought down trees in the woods behind our house, carried off plastic greenhouses and unsheathed marquees in neighbouring gardens! The energy and mischief of March is upon us, and we can weather the rough climes better for the omnipresent promise of longer days, vibrant blooms and awakening birdsong. This month has also brought the return to school, and the associated journeys. A touch of normality in an otherwise still turbulent world. We dig deep for the things that ground us, and reach for the serenity veiled by the clouds. And we take comfort from the bonds that hold us, in this striking out amid the current new normal.
By the time we arrived at school
Your little feet were wet.
Drenched by the school run deluge
That caught us unawares
As we padded the worn route down the concrete hills,
And forded the traffic streams
Of our morning commute.
Your ruddy hands had found refuge in my larger, seasoned ones.
I imbued them with my warmth
Because you had forgotten your gloves,
And you felt the sharp wind on them as you held your small pink umbrella
Against what should have been the foe of the weather.
But as we soaked up the rain on our legs and in our hair
And you drew close in my wake
For my shelter and my touch,
The plashing rain and the ominous clouds above us
Felt rather wonderful.
It was you and me
Hand in hand among the world.
Holding on to each other,
Laughing at the way our socks changed colour in the wet.
Me zipping up your coat over that still infant-like belly,
You sighing with the comfort of maternal hands over chilly fingers,
And the rain falling about us
Like a magic curtain
Drawn from the limitless blue above the storm clouds
And the infinity of my love.
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