And So We Fished

We climbed the gate while it was dark So no one saw us in the park We’d leave at eight and we’d be fine For ‘Mr Keys’ would come at nine This garden where the roses grew In memory of people who Wouldn’t mind that we were there For where we trod, we trod with care Not too much gear, we travelled light No lamps to show up in the night We had a place where we would sit Until things brightened up a bit Of brick and tin, with seats within Its open face, a welcome grin The shelter offered lakeside views For those bereaved to sit and muse And gazing out on yonder lake In no rush for the day to break It watched the mist sit dense and white On waters that still clung to night But as the moon took to its pillow Something splashed beneath the willow Newly crowned the sun took hold To warm two lads who’d braved the cold And in that dawning day we wished For fish to feed… and so we fished With bread or maggots, worms or cheese To lure the carp from under trees We caught one never, not once ever We tried our best but carp are clever They proved a never ending wait But perch and roach would take our bait And so we fished for what would bite And every fish was pure delight For every fish was surreptitious Which made the fishing more delicious Our voices low to show respect The silence as I recollect Was broken when the ducks went daft Which sounded like the whole lot laughed Then in the now increasing light A few of them began to fight A precursor, perhaps, to breeding We didn’t care… the fish were feeding And of the fish that we caught there A tiddler was extremely rare Though some were bigger than the rest And sometimes, one, a personal best But when the time had passed us by With Mr Keys’ arrival nigh Reluctantly we’d sneak away No sign that we’d been there that day * How often have I reminisced Of two good friends and where we fished And of the people buried there And how they didn’t seem to care