The valpolicella years

With a year of extraordinary events and lifestyle restrictions, we opted for an uncomplicated Christmas. We decided to share memories and make more memories to remember in our future years. I wrote this peom as a gift to Graham reminiscing on a holiday in Umbria in 1989, so Graham recalls. We drove there and were soon accampanied by three of our friends who arrived in the days that were to follow. We've been married for thirty four years and I only suggest that we fear our lives within the context of this wretched pandemic!

The valpolicella years,

I yelled for your attention,

Never too much but loud enough,

Remember when we took turns to drive

To France first, then across the Italian toll roads,

I was never too sure of the way

Or the side of the road.

And we arrived at a farmhouse in the hills of the Umbrian landscape,

Well before ours were conceived,

Our friends, delayed by the air traffic,

One expecting her first born,

Mobile communication not yet at our fingertips,

We simply waited for them inside the storm.

And the morning sunshine lit the golden sunflowers on the landscaped terraces where we explored the vineyards, our friends in tandem!

We were much younger then,

Our palates unaccustomed to the complex notes and vibrant flavours that lingered on.

We laughed then but never enough!

And the years have passed,

And never would I have guessed that today, together still and stronger,

We hold on to our dreams and live our lives!

Edit made in February to the last line which originally read "We hold on to our dreams and fear for our lives!" written in the context of the pandemic.