My daughter Emily and her eight-month old baby Theo recently came to stay with us in Devon. We did several firsts for him together: rowing on the river Tamar, watering the pea seeds in the garden, feeling the spring sun on our backs.

Emily wrote the following poem about ‘Little Things’. When she was a baby I remember how I loved the way she brought me down from abstract thinking and linear time to the present and the immediate, especially in the world around. She reminded me, as Theo does, of the important things of life.

Little Things (for Theo)

Theo,
It’s the little things
that make you happy
Like wooden beads
or reflections on the water
Ducks dust bathing
Watering seeds
as the droplets catch the sunlight
you’re grinning with delight.

Your world is one of detail
A ladybird takes flight
an ant zigzags across hot slate
You shrink the world
and take my gaze
away from the distance
to be amazed
by the tiny things
in life.