A Silent Day

As that great solemn procession 
Passed between the mourning crowds
I saw the birds fly over silent streets
Collecting the autumns bounty

Perhaps they were pleased at the lack of traffic,
They were undisturbed by that beat of drum 
Metronomic at 75 times a minute.
Undeterred by the field guns bursts

The colour of the slowly moving people
Must catch their eye, but none spotted the spider
On the wreath of flowers. 
No magpie looked at the shiny diamonds

So many different processions
The last is down a country lane 
No crowds, just the birds, the grass,
And still same drum, the same beat 

And past fallen flowers, smiling dogs and silent pony 
The final destination is reached
A chapel as great as any cathedral
There is the last resting place 

Now in the quiet, away from eyes of bird
Away from worlds eyes, a mother, grandmother
A father, grandfather, both laid in earth
Rest they in Peace and Rise in Glory, our brother and sister  

Sirfon 22

The tree is broken,

lichen, green, grey and gold

Cover the barkless branches

There are leaves, 

here and there working hard for life

The black horseshoe on the stem, 

Mark of where the leaf failed

An ash, stunted by the sea winds

Broken now by a strange illness, 

It’s future is shown by the pale grey, 

lifeless skeleton lower down the hedgerow

But growing in and around these 

Dead and dying is life, an elder seeking

protection from the salt breezes 

Lichen, rich and coloured

The warblers rest here,

the swallows seek food alongside

The robin chicks search out the insects.

A hare rich in colour and glory runs past

There is never an end in life, 

a pause, a breath, an eternal promise 

Summer lady

 
Day by day, I sat here
I watched the world go by 
The birds on the window feeder
Queuing up on the telephone line
but beyond there my eye had not gone
till this moment on this blue sky day
 
Suddenly the world has changed colour,
The birch white trunk rises through a froth of leaves
The dun coloured fields are verdant
The dead trees are alive, dark stems hold leaf
Fresh green of baby leaves, blue green of faded daffodils,
rich green leaves sprouting deepest bluebells
 
Even the dark greens of the Holly
suddenly have pale soft leaves of that fresh green
The blue of the sky is now the summer blue burnished bright
Not the pale lambent dreamy blue of winter
Under the greening canopy, ransoms white and bitter sharp stars
Gleam and the air is rich with garlic
 
Senses become alive, as do the mornings, no longer silent
But full of joyous soft songs of dove, blackbird, thrush,
Robin, willow warbler, blue tit, wren and dunnock
The earth itself breathes out its first breaths
Rich brown aroma of promise, the rose rises to answer
Seeds break the surface - yet another green
 
Will these little threads of palest green,
really become the grey green of lavender.
The dark green rosemary holds up its blue flower  
The thin green chives lift balloons from the dark earth
Shrouded Purple stars to follow the wild white stars
The Summer lady is dancing today

where

Enter into the Holy  place 

Enter into the  divine  grace

Shall we  marvel at the  finery  

The Glory and  splendour

The majesty and opulence,  

Shall  royal music  fill our  ears ?

Or  shall we  bow our  head in wonder 

at the simplicity of the stable,

shall we walk in amazement 

as he walks  on the  road with us?

Shall we cry  at the  spectacle of the

Dead man on a  cross, repeated again and again?

Every place is  holy,  the veil is torn away so

enter the holy place,  enter into his  love 

and receive the divine grace

in whatever place you  sit.

Mountain, valley, river or desert  

Wherever you walk, he walks with you