The shed

The Shed

It was almost two years since Jim died.
Still, she couldn’t get used to washing one plate;
She looked out to the shed and softly sighed
If she didn’t sort things – it’d be too late;
The shopping and ironing could wait!

Anna ran upstairs, swapped her dress for jeans
so happy that she hadn’t got bigger;
Jim had maintained… ever since their teens
that she’d got a wonderful figure,
and managed to say it with such vigour.

She’d loved him dearly, though romance was rare:
He’d never wear his heart on his sleeve,
their childless marriage he couldn’t repair
he blamed himself when she couldn’t conceive,
for babies they didn’t have… he would grieve.

She found herself tugging at the shed door,
the damp had caused the timber to swell.
The twisted roof and the sunken floor,
had sounded the old potting shed’s death knell.
Did it just give a little?— she couldn’t… tell.

Then open it came, with a big surprise
she fell to the floor with a hefty thud:
The wet dirt and dust flew into her eyes
a mouse scurried by as fast as it could,
past Anna’s face now covered with mud.

She picked herself up, brushed off the dust;
looked around at the cobwebs hanging there.
Picked up a broomstick and openly thrust
disturbing the occupants high in the air.
they dashed away without much of a care-

-past fork and spade hung up on the hook.
The long tree loppers awaiting repair.
The love and the care diligently took,
Tools oiled and polished with loving care
it was all too much for Anna to bear.

Tears running down her dust-covered face,
left a streak on her cheek nice and clean.
In this ramshackle shed, this dirty old place,
his rugged hands kept it all pristine
till cancer had taken him – unforeseen.

Old apples lay shrivelled and well decomposed
between rusting saws and extension leads,
The drawer of the bench… half-open, half-closed
revealing the packets of unopened seeds,
with a bottle of stuff for killing weeds.

One named ‘Annabelle’, a scented sweet pea,
in a beautiful lavender shade,
‘It’s named after me’ she noted with glee.
Were they part of some plans Jim had made?
did he plan to create an accolade?

The other, a sweet pea called ‘Wedding day’
was the very same flower she’d used
as part of her own floral bouquet…
the words on the packet she perused,
didn’t make much sense and left her bemused.

She sowed them in two black plastic trays
even though she didn’t know what to do;
She watched them and watered them every day
waiting for little heads to pop through,
not expecting them to come into view.

No progress was shown for a week or two,
Then, just as she was giving up hope,
many green seedlings came into view.
Anna wondered how she would cope
her elderly neighbour, showed her the ropes.

Something called pricking out was required,
so she thinned them out as best she could.
After she’d finished she felt quite inspired,
They grew bigger, stronger, looked very good;
the first things she’d grown since her childhood.

Then they were ready to put in the ground,
she planted them out very carefully.
To plant them in bunches was better she found,
they were going to be Jim’s legacy,
providing a long-lasting memory.

Though she’d intended to knock down the shed,
the thought had now filled her with guilt…
she called in a local handyman instead
and had the whole of the structure rebuilt,
got rid of the rotting wood and tilt.

Now Anna sits in that shed every day
tending her seedlings, planting her stuff,
talking to Jim – just chatting away;
Her life once so bad, that she’d had enough
was now a lot better and not half as tough.