Wilderness

Pt I: The Pilgrims 1991 he’d pick ‘his’ path up as it fell between the dunes toward the wood and as the trees knew him so well they’d all bow down right where he stood and every day with time to pass he’d walk and find his secret seat surrounded by the marram grass divorced from life’s hard grind and heat and there he’d sit and watch the sky feeling the calm he craved back then - the only place that saw him cry before he walked his path again. 2021 they picked the path up as it fell between the dunes toward the wood despite their health and age as well they struggled on as best they could now thirty years had come to pass walking the route to see the seat surrounded by the marram grass where they sat silent in the heat then just before they headed back with one last look their will was done they touched the seat's small weathered plaque: "in memory of our loving son". Pt II: Gethsemane 1991 the flood that drowned his will no less were the tears that he had cried while trekking through the wilderness and the storm that raged inside yet when the sky lit up right there it ‘spoke’ to him at length - the rainbow brought a purer air and the clouds some inner strength then in the cooling midday heat feeling calmer than before he stood up from his secret seat to walk his path once more. Pt III: Evensong 2021 a photograph that takes pride of place "we tried to help and always prayed" in uniform with a pre-war face "he turned to friends but felt betrayed" some polaroids of a young child’s smile "the three of us when we held hands" all neatly kept in a grey box file "he loved to play along those sands" a secret seat and a place of peace "discharged, divorced - and yet still strong" sunsets, psalms and pain release "this parents' path is hard and long."