The Last Tango

~

ten of us all told

five couples,

a large farmhouse

and one last hoorah,

the children have 

grown and flown

so we return to stir up

a melange of memories 

before re-burying them 

in this very special place,

boys wedged in trees 

Japanese soldiers hiding 

silently in the corn,

loose banknotes afloat

in the pool, a family 

of coypu in the ditch,

nude students’ GCSE’s

murders, mysteries 

and power cuts, 

pompiers and arsonists

to set the lane alight

opera wafting from the hill

normski toad on the step,

antique chairs 

recycled from the tip

makeshift music

baby secrets kept

torchlight ghost walks

to haunted ruins,

bathroom bats

and shooting stars,

such memories are tiny 

arrows to one’s heart, 

that fly again, then 

settle in their space,

so adieu La Tuilliere 

old girl, you’ve loved 

the very best of us

© Graham R Sherwood 09/25