Ceilings

Travelling on the Circle Line
           I see a 3-month old baby 
lying on her back
           in a carry cot
She’s wearing a blue babygro
           and she’s waving her tiny hands
and gurgling with contentment
           She’s looking up
at the carriage ceiling quite intently
           and it occurs to me
how many hours young infants
           spend on their back
and how many ceilings
           they get to study
in all that time and whether
           any residual memory lingers
and what in years to come
           this child will make
of what she sees
           when she gazes up
at the frescoes
           in the Sistine Chapel

John Lyons