This is a three-part poem reflecting my breakup with my first love John Wilson. It was initially written over a few months in the summer of 1983, and had a third verse that is not included here. I do love this poem – it was inspired by a Pernod advert called ‘Free the Spirit’, and I love the colours I’ve used in it, and the way it describes how the freedom wished for is not always quite what you thought it would be. It’s one of my poems that I can recite from memory. You can tell I was a botanist when I first wrote it. I love the imagery and metaphor of pigmentation and how we think the grass (of being single) is greener, when actually the pain of breaking up in reality, can make it less attractive when you get there.

I adapted it for a Consilience Field Notes: Family Trees edition, so this published version is slightly different from the original. Consilience is a group of poets who are scientists that I am part of, and for who I edit and review – and write.

PUBLISHED in Consilience Field Notes Volume 2 – Family Trees 2024