This photograph of sky and leaves was taken while lying on my sunbed on one of the rare sunbathing days last summer.

Looking up at the sky captured a rare moment when delight in the present excluded thoughts of the past or future. The simplicity and clarity of the shapes and colours were captivating and soothing. The image symbolises the security of being engulfed in a precise moment.

However, the verse aims to express the insecurity of life precisely because we cannot be statically engulfed in a precise moment. Thus, it begins by suggesting that hope and pleasure can return with time. But ends with the sudden realisation, (through sharp uncontrollable memories), that this is temporary. The two reworked lines referring to dreams, life and reason summarise the change.

Thus, the peaceful stillness of the image contrasts with the traumatic movement of the verse. Ironically, they are not contradictory. On the contrary; in reality, the nature of the human condition is constructed by the combination of both.