Picture of the alliums on Flat Holm with Sandra

August - and excitedly we four clamber aboard

The Bristol Queen - historic 1930s ferry boat 

taking seats on the upper deck's wooden benches

in that little harbour at Weston-Super-Mare

clutching soya lattés and vegan flapjacks

we listen to the safety talk before setting sail 

on the choppy waters of the Bristol Channel

- the currents swirling in dark tidal chaos 

our route takes us past Steep Holm, where 

we once spent a whole summer day together

stranded with the boys, a few years before -

the island's wooded side dense with sycamores

waving at us from above and onward we sail

into the central channel, and finally to the island

- a sign on the landing shore proclaims: 'Welcome 

to Flat Holm, Site of Special Scientific Interest'

first we explore 'The Gull and Leek' pub and

study the photographs of the extra long sloworms 

that hide here; the unearthed Bronze Age artefacts;

the shearwaters and puffins that nest underground  

later on, after a picnic feast and snoozy lie down

in quite isolation of fields by the Trinity lighthouse

you unpack your watercolours and start to paint the 

flowering clusters of rare wild alliums surrounding us

with their purposeful stems, each ending in a globe

domed umbels, like bouquets of miniature florets 

with six elfin petals, where the bees land and hum

then voluptuously delve into that dreamy mauve:

alliums grow tall in abundance here and I take a picture 

in my mind of this scene - you sitting here, serene 

in gentle focus, skilfully painting, as the sea breezes 

gently ruffle and stir the drumstick pompon blooms

swaying so smoothly, in a perfect hypnotic rhythm 

just for you