Picnic in Knole Park

The white damask was spread over the tree-stump;
The orange and gold china plates contrasted with the asparagus;
The home-cooked, clove-spiked ham was finely sliced.
We toasted two birthdays
With Prosecco,
Then it rained.

We scooped up the food,
And swooped beneath
The most densely canopied linden tree.
Wrapped for warmth
In checked table-cloths,
We fed strawberries to the deer.

6 June 2008

Four of us: Lynny, Pat, Clare and myself, (who had all been to boarding school together in Sevenoaks, where Knole Park is situated), plus Lynny's partner, Gilly, celebrated Gilly's 44th, and Lynny's 50th birthdays, by having a picnic in the park. Clare had organised the whole thing, and drove us all there. We all had to provide different parts of the meal, and Clare had also brought along all the plates etc. I'd had no idea it was going to be so posh! It was already looking a bit threatening weather-wise, when we arrived, and we had barely laid everything out, before the first drops of rain fell. Luckily, we were able to find shelter under some nearby trees, as it quickly became torrential, and continued to pour for the rest of the picnic. We did of course, get soaked taking everything back to the car, but we all agreed that it was a much more memorable occasion than if it had just been a lovely, sunny day... This isn't really a poem of relevance to anyone who wasn't there, but I'm putting it up anyway!