Fare thee Well, Old Friend

We looked to nature to give us closure;
a mound of stones over a loved one's grave
and scattered with seeds of foxglove and fern.
We buried bluebell bulbs between the stones
and planted a sapling for a headstone.

Go into the earth, we said,
let your bones mingle with those of wolf and fox
mouse and bird, beast and man.
We will remember you here
in this field of honour you loved in life
where the trees sigh beneath the wind and rain
and rabbits keep cropped the sweet grass above your grave.

Every time we passed the spot we smiled
where the flowers bloomed and the oak tree grew
until one day the council sold the land
and built a car park instead.
Dear spot thirty-nine bearing, proud, the inscription
reserved for human resources manager,
hasn't quite the ambience it owned before.

- Rachel Green