Cragside

Every now and then

She checks in on me

I know when she’s there

Because I close my eyes and I feel it.

The other day

I found a spot

A spot by a small fountain

A small fountain in a herb patch

A herb patch in a formal garden

At Cragside

I was tired from walking

Like someone twenty years my senior

So I sat on a bench

And my teenage daughters sat on benches too

And stared at their phones

Just the sound of the fountain

Trickling

Maybe a bee

But I don’t remember that

Maybe a passing aeroplane at 30,000 feet

But I don’t remember that

I closed my eyes

Just me

And the fountain

And my daughters silently scrolling their screens

She was there

Sitting beside me

And when I knew, the sun came from behind a cloud

The late August sun

And I felt the warmth

And the love

Just me

And my mum

And my girls