1.
Inhale full deep, your nostrils flare
Piquant bouquet of fresh cut grass
The memories unfurl

Resented chore, the lawn mower
The whiff of amber gasoline
Sloshed funnel cup, swirled into tank

Haul on the Briggs and Stratton cord – cough, splutter, roar
To pare concentric straight-edged loops
Around the uncut patch

2.
The drop into the bowl, so steep
Your heart fast-leaping in your mouth
Bent scabby knees release

The hissing rush of plastic wheels
Relive the gust, compression, rush
One second more to weightless hang

Upon the wall, flash-frozen time, lean, pivot, plunge
Pump carving turns, around the pool
Till burning legs gave out

3.
You splashed the tub with infant glee
And plowed your yellow wide-eyed duck
through heaping clouds of foam.

You kicked your legs, sloshed ringing waves
To breach the basin’s tight confines
There was no time, just ecstasy

Until at last, to wailed protest – the plug was pulled
and all the frothy pleasure ebbed
a-swirling down the drain

Chorus:

When did you first suspect
Your course though life,
Winding, inflection bent –
The soaring rise
Curving into descent –
Was destined for the oubliette?

4.
On fresh-cut grass in pre-dawn gloom
Trudge round the links, drag aged limp
With dogged grit from hole to hole

What choice have you but loop again
Cling to the dregs of waning strength
Endure the uneventful day

From thwacking drive, to clinking chip: soft rolling putt
Arcs slowly round the sloping green
To ring the cup then drop

Chorus:
….