My Garden of Joy

I remember, I remember my garden of joy, It gave me great happiness when I was a boy At the bottom of the garden was a delightful stream, When alone, I would sit beside it, meditate and dream. In the garden stood an ancient apple tree, In the spring time its coloured buds were a joy to see. In the autumn the russet apples were harvested in, Our neighbours also enjoy surplus apples from our bin. At summertime my two friends would come in and play cricket, Game stopped when the batsman knocked the ball into the thicket. On summer evenings Mum or Dad read us a story in the eventide, Other children came in, lemonade and biscuits mum did provide. Subject to weather mum packed a picnic on a Sunday afternoon, To meet the local villagers, to gossip, farmers sold their eggs, that was a boon The villagers would meet, discus each others fortune, on the village green, There all the local gossip everyone could tell or glean. The young ones played football, cricket or handball, The girls often beat the boys, that did not go down well. Some times in the evening Dad would take me down to listen to the local band, Some music I did not like, some I thought was grand. I left home at twenty one to work in the city, My little village is now a small town, what a pity. I have photo’s to remind me of my happy past, With an expanding world villages like mine will never last.