Written piece
Harriet
GLYN MATTHEWS
United Kingdom
About this piece
Exactly 100 words to celebrate the thread of life and love that binds us all from generation to generation wherever we might be, set in my garden next to bridge 67 on the Cheshire Ring canal system, 97 miles of idyllic waterway connecting six canals in the Northwest of England.
Harriet
With earthquake tread
and giddy-kippered reel,
she takes the length of
my spring lawn
in her imperfect stride
to peep above the fence beside
the fog-horn mouth
of rough-hewn stone,
waiting for the crawling
narrowboat and
the throbbing engine’s
lazy tone.
“Grandad, Grandad,
there it is,” she cries and
I lift her in my arms to free
her infant wave and call hello.
And if the fellow
at the tiller fails to
turn and see her smile,
yellow dancing irises,
freshly woken
by his gentle wake,
wave back awhile,
throw back the light,
a shining mirror
of her innocent delight.