Once upon a time I lived in Sydney
And I knew many people there
And I studied in many places
And worked in many places
And played, and sang, and danced, and
Lived a life
That now seems far away and distant

And in this present day life
I am a person I always dreamed of being
Living in the lands of overseas
And traveling
And performing
And meditating
And eating delicious food
And being a grown up
Who makes her own decisions
About how her life is going to be

And today I met up with a friend
Who I hadn't seen in quite a while
And he was still the same lovely person
He was a few years ago
Softly spoken but with a glint in his eye
And he made me remember
All those friends
From that Other Life that once I led

And it's funny how people
Float in and out of our lives
And Amy K.R. once wrote about how
Maybe the word "end" is in the word
Friendships
Because sometimes friendships
Just end in the middle

And I just wanted to say,
To all those people
From a distant time, a distant life,

Whether we're actually still in contact or not
To all those people I've sat under bright blue skies with
And drunk beverages with
And shared meals with
And sat beside ponds and stared at geese with
And laughed in offices with
And trained with
And studied with
And sang with
And danced with
And gardened with
And traversed a bit of time
On this globe
Together with

I'm thinking of you
And wondering how you are
And hoping you're happy and well
Really and truly
Happy. And well.
And sending you love from across the universe.

The end.

You walk from Westminster to Embankment
Along the Thames River Path
And all the snow has melted
And there are tourists taking photos
And the Eye is spinning.

And you're an hour early for a meeting
So you decide to wander for a bit
And you come across one of those maps that dot central London
And tell you what sites of significance
Are within 5 minutes walking distance
And you see that St. Martin in the Field is nearby
That place you've heard of so often on classical music stations.

And you walk in through a side door
And it's not as big or ornate as you were expecting
But it is lovely.
And down the far end of the church is a striking window
With a curved cross
Designed by an Iranian-born woman
Shirazeh Houshiary.

You sit halfway down the church
And there are people dotted around
A few homeless people sleeping
Sitting upright
Their hoods pulled over their faces
Sitting where it is warm
Curious tourists looking for a quiet refuge
From the busy-ness of London
And you.

And there is a man at a grand piano
He has dark hair, and is balding slightly
He has dark rimmed glasses and a black sweater.
He is playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. 
The acoustics are amazing.
He is rather good
And he is enjoying the acoustic too.
Letting the sound
Really reverberate through the space.

The man sitting three rows in front of you leaves
And you suddenly have a clear view to the pianist
And you feel a bit exposed.
Because until that moment you had almost imagined you were no more than a
Passive spirit observing this place.

And then it is time to go
To your meeting
And you meet a lovely soul
Who inspires you
And lifts your spirits
And an hour flies by
In conversation.
And you walk back along the Thames
And the sun has come out for a moment
And you think

Thank you for bringing me here.

The end.

Into the woods
To find the snow fairies,
To see the kids having snow fights,
To see the snowmen who have popped up in the night.

There is a mum and and her little girl building a new snowman
Mum has the bucket and spade,
They're normally reserved for holidays at the seaside,
But the snow is calling.
The little girl sits next to the growing mound of snow,

Dressed in a pink jumpsuit,
She looks at all the white around her,
And shakes her little head,
Where did it all come from??? 

There are kids and grown-up kids
With plastic toboggans,
And people throwing snowballs at each other.
People are smiling
As they pass each other by,
Hello! Isn't this great? Isn't this lovely?

And then you walk into the Little Wood.
And it is oh so quiet,
The stillness of it all,
The picture postcard perfection of it all,
Makes your heart melt
And you hope the snow around you doesn't.

I have a to-do list a mile long
And a stack of emails to reply to,
And friends to connect with,
People I love and cherish and miss to say "dear friend, I love and cherish and miss you" to.
And homework, and research, and practise, and learning all to be done.

But right now,
I have a cup of tea
And beautiful music playing,
And outside the snow fairies are dancing,
And the road is turning from black to white,
And the grass is turning from green to white.
And my breath is fogging up the window.
 
And my little Aussie soul is laughing,
Because here she is,
In a land far away
Where it's properly cold
And it snows!
And it is lovely.

The end.