NEVER WAS A SHADE

Tender and beautiful fronds
Of my beloved plane tree,
Let Fate smile upon you.
May thunder, lightning, and storms
Never disturb your dear peace,
Nor may you by blowing winds be profaned.

It had been a difficult few weeks but as Emma walked down through the leafy green fields into her local town she felt as if she was positively levitating. A combination of the balmy, early summer breezes meeting with Handel's 'Ombra Mai Fu' through her headphones created a multi-sensory experience of subtle transcendence which almost overwhelmed her in that present moment.

Her late Uncle Robert had been diagnosed with Cotard's syndrome whereby he believed himself to be immortal. Emma wondered if she was experiencing a similar affliction as she suddenly felt so ethereal communing with the green abundance all around her; the soft June winds seemed to practically lift her feet off the ground. Of course, the Handel also had something to do with it. In fact, now she thought about it, it was Uncle Robert who'd first introduced her to Handel, playing his vast collection of opera records and cds through the open windows of his study whilst drinking Pimm's in his most perfect secret garden where the modern world seem to have no place.

"You can be immortal, too if you like. All it takes is an Elysian state of mind that is helped along with music of the Gods, a summer's cocktail and a comfortable chair in which to relax your body."

She never forgot those perfectly constructed moments of beauty with Uncle Robert. The music seemed to energise her soul at that time. She continued, long after Uncle Robert's immortality proved to be short lived to maintain those simple rituals of his.

Perhaps that was the immortal thing. Carrying on those rituals and adapting them through time. She didn't have access to his garden anymore or his collection of records and CDS but as she walked amongst the explosion of green all around the side streets of the provinicial rural town where she lived and worked, she felt as if she was carrying on his spirit, eternally grateful that he'd introduced her to this elevated 'Elysian' way of being, especially in difficult times.

She also had included lemons, oranges, cucumber and mint on her shopping list so that when she returned home later that day she could recreate the classic Pimm's cocktail she so enjoyed all that time long ago in Uncle Robert's garden.