Reminiscence

Frailty Garden, innocence blissful in repose 
Clutched rose digits in carefree airs, 
Whilst senses fostered absent cares. 
Distant gaze towards the slight 
Light, in sight in a shallow pond, 
A stagnant blight on a whitewashed ground by 
Plastic mounds and 
Tarmac fields. 
Scattered droplets, dashed by a squall, 
Shatter to mist as they fall. 
Frailty Garden, knick knacks arranged on a rubber mat, 
Tat to stimulate this-and-that 
Response; some articulation 
Sure to prompt short speculation. 
Empty, save when fairer weather 
Brings the garden's child together, 
To sit beneath a cooling tree, 
To ponder imperceptibly. 
We watch them close but leave them be, 
We let them search where they can see. 
Frailty garden, gentle hands with firm demands 
Hold briefly to suggest commands 
For subtler movements, for some control 
Of their surrounds, 
The Whitewashed Grounds.