SUMMER SKIES

A BOY AND GIRL IN A COUNTRY FIELD IN 1961

We lay in the long grass
summery flies
bees

butterflies
Jane named them
one by one 

I lay
watching her finger move
pointing them out

cotton wool clouds
water colour
blue sky

the best scene
my father says
the sky

above our heads
she said
he says some painters

study skies
to soak them up
into the art

I watched
as her hand turned
palm towards me

the headline
heart line
then down

beside her
in the long grass
out of sight

London skies
were pretty much
grey with smoke

or dirty blue
like soiled linen
I said

you must be glad
to be out
of London now

she said
looking at me
her dark eyes

lit up
like black olives
in cream

yes I am now
after this
I said

not saying
how her presence
made it more so

I love this
she said
this air

this scene
these butterflies
us being here

her fingers
reached out for mine
in the grass

fingertips touching
a Gatekeeper
she said suddenly

her finger pointing
skyward
as a butterfly

touched
the water colour
blue sky.