19 NOVEMBER 1994, Page 53

Horse Chestnut

Grandfathers who have spiky outsides Can be fun inside: a gallows humour, Hanging their youth out to be hit By kids who have not had to bake Or save, but possess proud fivers On shoelaces they have grown out of.

Yet the young do not recognise the tree In winter. Only now there is a hoard To be scavenged from the park.

They do not think of it as an alien Or worry about it being too near The house. They have their collection Of gleaming gladiators in a bowl, And have no doubt that they will shine Right through and on beyond Christmas.

John Greening