A leaf falls at our feet
We are playing in the garden
Hide and seek
We don't have a garden
Shh
It's make believe
Then Dinah and me
Will come to tea
She smiles
Clattering the cups and kettle
It hurts my head
Sharp and smart
As a kitty cat swipe
Tea shouldn’t be sadistic
I moan
Neither should breathing
She mumbles back
Busy on her mission
Checkered cloth
Victoria Sponge
Warm milky tea
She sits by the tree
Scowls and scours
Trying to find
Her story
This is curiously familiar
Don’t you think
We chew on feathers
Shoot up stars
Blue looks pretty
Wrapped around a can
Like the very best ribbons
Or big bright birthday balloons
She giggles
I breathe in
High is a bag full of cymbals
Shh
Only a grown up would know
We lie down
The grass is thick
The high is low
Tired
Dreary
Old
We should let Dinah
Chase it
She’s a very good hunter you know
She sits up
Swallows down the cake and tea
Noisily
Like mummy
Not me
I wipe my brow
Sweating out the flat line
She wipes her dress
Brushes off tentative
If there’s nothing at the end of a chase
There is very little point in starting it at all
Maybe
I say
A light shines from her fingers to her toes
In my world
You wouldn’t say ‘meow’
You’d say
‘Yes, miss Alice’
I catch the leaf
Which falls at my feet
Yes, miss Alice
I say
Smiling
Yes.
