FebulousFebruary 2025: Lost and Found

Ruby Macaque

You came all the way from America

to the wild west of Wales in winter

reckless you braved our snow line,

got lost on the dinosaur boned Cambrians

to take an outdoor bath with me.

will we ever forget

any of those implausibly large flakes

melting in the menopausal heat

of our flaming faces

as we boil ourselves

into sister soup,

laughing so loud.

other women bring us tea

4 hours in minus 7 degrees,

snow covering the grey in our hair

with something debonair

the furnace of this friendship

roars so many times

that we must undip

rush naked across a white lawn

to turn on the cold tap.

still babbling like brooks about

old lady camouflage and

flying beneath the radar of despair,

curating recipes for world rescue

of hopes and kids and dreams

of every happy end

that started sharing a bath

with a favourite friend.

Jane Campbell aged 55 based in rural West Wales UK