Do you remember?
Do you remember Jen, I said
on WhatsApp casually called
my midnight your late breakfast
our Christmases long passed, sixty years ago
and, no surprise, you do.
I think of licking gummy strips for yards and yards of chains
aged 6, class 3, and holly sprigs on bottle tops
doorstep harbingers; my mother steamy in the kitchen
harassed by giant ham, and mince pies multiplying
chief Maker of Magic stirring fudge and fretting.
And I remember Jen, but do not say,
my stricken self as you, departing, waved
Australia bound.
It seemed a kind of death, too many miles and far.
But who’d have guessed, imagined in a dream
such fiction fantastical
a casual call at midnight, free and clear,
two old friends in a video link
reducing the years and years, the farewell tears
too many miles and separation
all now nothing
curtesy of WhatsApp, bona fide on an iPhone
our marvellous miracle.
21st December 2021 Brighton for Jen, with love
