Summer days
We took a walk down Astley
As far as Astley Park
That our scene
Me and David
Maybe sometimes putting
But better by far
On the bowling green
The game of bowls
Fitful in my story
But playing it
Was like being in a dream
The gentle roll
Of wood across the carpet
The Jack beyond
Keep it on the seam
No riotous behaviour
This arena
No raucous shouts
To shatter peaceful air
Just bend the knee
And roll the wood exactly
The road you think
Will strike it fair and square
Those summer days
The haze of warm air rising
Up Tyldesley banks
Those streets we call the Jig
The smell of flower and blossom
All around us
No need to care
No need to give a fig
What gentleness
What calm this green is giving
Cut so fine to help my wood along
All my life I remember
Peace pervading
So memorable
It deserves a song
And this I guess
The song that it’s been waiting
Sixty years and more
Where have I been!
Many a mile and many a road
I’ve travelled
From Astley Park
And from that Bowling Green
Brian Fahy
20 May 2021
Erris Poetry 