Various Poems

This last section is a grab-bag, or miscellany, of things which didn't fit anywhere else! It begins with some poems that I like.

If you are interested in poetry, you may wish to follow the contemporary poet Judi Sutherland. Her blog is worth reading plus of course there are her poems, which are elegant and thought-provoking.

In the Fields

Lord when I look at lovely things which pass,
  Under old trees the shadow of young leaves
Dancing to please the wind along the grass,
  Or the gold stillness of the August sun on the August sheaves;
Can I believe there is a heavenlier world than this?
  And if there is
Will the heart of any everlasting thing
  Bring me these dreams that take my breath away?
They come at evening with the home-flying rooks and the scent of hay,
Over the fields. They come in spring.

Charlotte Mew (1869-1928)

Ten Thousand Flowers in Spring

Ten thousand flowers in spring,
the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter.
If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things,
this is the best season of your life.

Wu-Men, (1183-1260)

Old Man and Birds

An old man now, my rumpled clothes have bulging pockets
of brown paper bags containing
peanuts, seeds and crumbs.
In the park, pigeons gather round me,
sitting on my outstretched hands, my shoulders, my head.
Pecking food I have placed there for them.

I walk slowly, a king among minions,
watched by solemn children and busy mothers,
who throw crumbs to ducks. Surpised by my appearance they
follow me with their eyes.

An old man now, I shuffle along with my birdy friends,
Grey city birds, not upper class folk I assure you,
but glad of my company, as I of theirs.

And would you wonder to know,
that inside me lives yet that dreaming boy
who lay in summer long ago
in a field so sweet with scents and swaying grasses,
That even the cries of skylarks high above, wheeling round and round in the sky
Did not dissuade him from thinking this was heaven.

Poem for Rabbit-Hole Day

There is something under the shed,
A scuttling dark shape in the night.
A wild beast slunk into our house,
But I startled it and it ran away.
The large bone is still on the filbert.

Outside Today

Early morning mist lingers,
Golden leaves sparkle in winter sunlight.
Crows chase one another from branch to branch.
A sudden breeze causes a cascade of leaves to fall.
Startled deer run through the trees.
Stillness regained, a lone magpie flies past.

Outside...

Pale blue sky.
Scudding clouds.
Bright Winter Sun.
Windblown Trees.
Dappled shadows on green and gold leaves.

Easterly

Looking eastwards through the window I can see:

The trees, their leaves starting to turn golden brown.
Cobwebs shining in the sunlight.
Glowing streaks of rain driven by the wind.

Shelagh's Website