For Emily and Tim
All this time
you have been unspooling your lives,
like those summer afternoons
when we watched your small feet
slipping on wet grass,
your hands feeling the pull of the kite
as the red-ribboned lark
soared into the sky –
and you leaned against us
away from the breeze
and we took the strain of the strings,
holding you tight.
All this time
you have been unreeling the bobbin
and we have been letting out the lines,
shaking with joy
as we watch you fly.
Originally published in South Bank, 2019.
