Kim Simmonds-Hurn

Hertsmere

Two children play in the dirt

Using spoons intended for dessert.

A little girl, a little boy

Grubble in the soil together

So distinct and separate;

She is carefully digging a hole

Hollowing out a space –

Shaped like cupped hands

Into which she pours water.

Hertsmere – home of the watery heart

A place where deer will gather

To drink in the moonlight.

He is carefully piling

Her discarded earth into a mound

Standing proud above the hollow she has made.

He is using everything she has excavated and more.

He makes a flag from a twig and a tattered leaf

Proclaiming himself King

Lording it with muddied knees, eyes glinting

Watching the sun emblazoned on his mast.

She allows him to glory in his triumph

Her own being hidden, quieter.

Castles and Gardens

I’d sooner be a garden than a castle.

Today we trashed your house.

The china thrown in black bags,

Chairs broken, carpets rolled up –

Dumped.

All the things we surround ourselves with are nothing –

Small comforts.

I’d sooner be a flower than a castle.

Today we ransacked your house.

The curtains that you once pulled at

Can no longer keep out the dark –

Discarded.

All the things we surround ourselves with are nothing –

Small comforts.

I’d sooner be a petal than a castle.

Today we wrecked your house.

The kettle is unplugged, silent.

Carelessly, the unwarmed teapot –

Dropped.

All the things we surround ourselves with are nothing –

Small comforts.

Today we ruined your house.

As we left I picked a lily of the valley –

It smelt warm and it smelt good.