I place two shiny new conkers in your hands

Commenting on how many leaves are gathering now under the trees, fallen to the ground

We count the grazing geese upon the green, (there’s more than fifty!)

And remark upon a fearless squirrel darting across our path with boundless energy

I let down our ponytails so we can feel the Autumn breeze in our hair

With the sound of the fountain spray upon the lake in the air

We stop to say ‘Hello‘ to a majestic white swan upon the pond who holds its neck so proudly

And over the hump back bridge we say ‘Hi’ to a crow changing branches in a tree

Whose slick black feathers shine iridescently

Then we see two little girls chasing each other around a playground

They laugh and shout: ‘you can’t catch me, you can’t catch me…’

On the way back we wave at our reflections in the window and pause briefly

Before I comb and braid your hair into a plait so very neatly

“Nothing’s lost forever. In this world, there’s a kind of painful progress. Longing for what we’ve left behind, and dreaming ahead.” – from Lydia’s monologue in the last scene of ‘Still Alice’