After all these years

The usual walk (we've made it ours)
with the usual butterflies, usual flowers,
foxglove, buttercup, purple vetch
(a speckled wood joined us for quite a stretch),

the usual birds, the usual bees,
the usual leaves on the usual trees:
the walk we've enjoyed year in, year out,
same cows, same sheep, but never doubt

there is no usual, it's never the same.
Like fresh-dealt cards in a favourite game,
each walk is different, each offers surprise.
Today, round the corner, what met our eyes?

Never before - as clear as day -
did a deer appear and then bound away,
sure-footed, elegant, leap - run - leap.
We blinked, and continued, past cows and sheep.

© Celia Warren 2019