A young girl

In her school uniform

sits by the canal

A swan passes

Winks at her

Beauty to Beauty

There she is

WORRYING THE TRIVIAL INTO CRISIS

I ponder

Ask

Think

Wonder

Then take a road

The timber is measured twice

Before the cut

A frightened woodcock

Spurs a robin into full whistle

I am shocked into action

And I act decisively

Which brings opportunity

Once achieved

Sleep comes

The swans take a snooze

So do I

I raise my eyes

Walk through bent grass

Calm to a standstill

The oak silently nursing the foetus

Breeze rapping the ringlets of the daffodil

And no mind-boggling equations

I know these woods

Where spider and daffodil make a home

Where ants weave a path

Through abandoned leaves

Where silence is rampant

And the breeze is seen

Through tingling leaves

Where I can go

And ring my mind

In the soft spell of time

I

IT WAS HIS VOICE

THAT TURNED MY HEAD

STANDING IN MID AIR

CELEBRATING HIS SONG

HIS WINGS

WAFTING HIS VOICE TO ME

AGAIN I BREATHED SPRING

BROWN MUD NEST

SOFT FEATHER BED

YELLOW BEAKS

YOUNG

MOUTHS OPEN

ANXIOUS FOR FOOD

BABIES

THEN AN ORDINARY HAPPY LAD

GENTLY LIFTS THE NEST DOWN

SOUNDS OF CHIRPING

AS HE LAID IT DOWN

SECURELY

ON THE RAILWAY LINE

THE TRAIN CAME

A LONG SILENCE

IT WAS OVER

THE EXECUTION OF THE INNOCENTS

THE BOY CHEERED

I HIT HIM

THE OTHERS HIT ME

I WENT HOME CRYING.

I HAVE AN OFFICE BESIDE THE CANAL

BESIDE A WATERWAY

BESIDE THE PECH AND BREAM

WHERE WATERHEN AND DUCK

MAKE A CIRCLE

AND GULLS THROW AN ECHOE INTO THE HOUSES

I HAVE A PACE TO GO

WHEN PRESSURE BUILDS

WHERE ROBIN FILLS MY FEET WITH LIGHT

AND FINCHES FLY IN RYTHEM OVERHEAD

WHERE LEAVES TURN MIST INTO TEARS

AND I CAN ROLL MYSELF

IN THE APRON OF THE BLACKBIRD.

I AM IN EARLY FEBRUARY 2022

I OOK FOR A SNOWDROP

FIND DAFFODILS IN FULL BLOOM

AM I DREAMING

I TOUCH THEM

FEEL THE FLOWER TROBBING

ALIVE

TWO MONTS PREMATURE