WHITE VALLEY

 

Viewed through frosted panes

The valley was bathed in moonlight

And like a ribbon of pure white silk

The road crossed the silent scene

 

LITTLE BIRD BRING TO US

 

Little bird bring to us

Your sweet song

Bring it cheerily

With the spring

To the woodland

And to the meadow

And with your

Sweet melody

Usher in another

Blessed summer

 

FLAME TREES

 

Flame trees in the jungle

Petals like tongues of fire

Burning bright in paradise

THE RED SQUIRREL

 

The red squirrel

Cute arboreal character

Once abundant in our woodland

Now small in number

Only survive in small pockets

Thanks to the grey intruder

THE RED KITE

 

The Red Kite

Beautiful in flight

In the cape verde sky

Raptor flying high

RED ADMIRAL

 

Red admiral flutter by

You Beautiful butterfly

Drink from the buddleia

Lovely Vanessa atalanta

LITTLE BIRD BRING US

 

Little bird bring us

Your sweet song

To woodland

And to meadow

Usher in another

Blessed summer

HUMMINGBIRD FLY

 

Hummingbird fly

On vibrant wings

Sip, iridescent beauty

From trumpet blooms

The nectar sweet

With long slender bill

In flower deep

THE PURPLE DEPTHS

 

The purple depths

Of heather on the hill

Looked down at their reflections

In the watery shadows

Of the timeless loch

LONG TAILED LINNET

 

Long tailed Linnet

Sweet flying Finch

Trill and twitter

Your pleasant song

All Summer long

THE SWIFT

 

The familiar forked tail

And crescent wing

Of the agile Swift in sky

Performing aerobatics

Above the fields of gold

So pleasing to the eye

IN THE SUMMER FOREST

 

In the summer forest

I stared into the silent waters

Of the mirrored pool

It was a place spoken oft in lore

An eerie haunted place

The stillest place I’d known

To stand too long

Appreciating its tranquillity

Could cost you your soul

There were no fish

To break the surface

No insect ventured near

Bird song fell silent at its edge

And no creature quenched its thirst

No one knew if its waters were deep

Or merely murky shallows

It was not an inviting place

But if you stared too long

Into its mesmeric shadows

You would not tell the tale

 

THE AIR WAS SULTRY AND STALE

 

The air was sultry and stale

The heat oppressive

I sought the sanctity of the shade

Embracing its coolness

I walked beneath the leafy canopy

Where the silence welcomed

Contented I walked

In the leafy summer forest

Until within a glade

I came upon a woodland pool
It’s still dark waters

Looking glass flat.

I peered through my own reflection

Into the charismatic depths

And felt unnervingly as if

I were staring into the depths

Of my own soul

And for the first time

On that sultry summers afternoon

My skin felt cold

IN SPRINGTIME

 

In springtime

I walk in dappled shade

Down along

A woodland brook

Where Narcissi grow

And bow their heads

In deference

To the singing stream

WISPS OF WHITE

 

Wisps of White

Decorate the azure blue

Like absent minded stokes

Of an artist’s brush

While the sunbathes the land

With its benevolence

THE PIERCING OF THE WIND

 

The piercing of the wind

Iced like the mountain peaks

Brought water to my eyes

And a stinging to my cheeks

It left hands too cold to grip

And lips to numb to speak

It cut through my cloak

And made the outlook bleak

A BUMBLE BEE BUSIES

 

A bumble bee busies

A Butterfly rises and dips 

And there amid velvet petals

A single hummingbird sips

IN THE EUROPEAN FORESTS

 

In the European forests

The wild boar can be vicious

But it’s worth the risk

As they’re bloody delicious

THE WILDLIFE DOWN UNDER

 

The wildlife down under

Includes the Wallabies

But if truth be known they’re

Just Kangaroo Wannabies

THE CHERRY BLOSSOM

 

The cherry blossom

Filled the tree

A brief spectacle

Of perfect beauty

Until the petals fell

Like pink snowflakes

And in the breeze

Danced like confetti

Outside the church

On our wedding day

 

THE STORM RAGED

 

The storm raged

Thunder roared

And lightning flashed

As rain fell, unrestrained

From leaden skies

Like liquid knives

Dropping into the sodden land

Night came early

Beneath the slate grey

Until a tear in the fabric

Of the unremitting deluge

A perfect patch of blue

Showing through the heavy sky

Brought tranquillity

With a glimpse of heaven

Through the darkness

A beam of heavens light

Shone down upon the land

A beacon from above

To let us know

We are not forsaken

BUTTERFLIES FLUTTER BY # 2

 

Butterflies flutter by

On pale Cabbage white wings,

Heralds of beauty

THE RICH FED GROUSE THRIVE ON THE MOOR

 

The rich fed grouse thrive on the moor

The golden hare lives on the valley floor

In the meadow you’ll find rabbits there

While the fox sits patiently in his lair

THROUGH GREEN-WOODS AND MEADOWS

 

Through green-woods and meadows

The happy travellers wend

Along the meandering river

Until they reached journeys end

TALES OF THE RIVERBANK

 

A bee sipping nectar from a flower

A sparrow sipping dew from a leaf

A butterfly on his way to somewhere

Pays us a visit but it was only brief

 

A duck quacks out on the water

And we hear a Kingfisher splash

An elegant swan glides effortlessly by

And the dragonfly makes a dash

 

WINTERS GRIP

 

The snow has settled on us

Like a shroud.

Each day growing deeper

Silence fills the emptiness of the landscape

But for the ghostly sound of the wind

High in the treetops

The meadows and fields have vanished

The river flows mute beneath the ice

The next valley is unreachable

The mountains as unattainable as the Moon

But soon spring will release the land

From its icy captor

And the winter we be no more

Than remembered conversations

Beside the roaring hearth

SNOW BLIND

 

Since the snow began to fall

My wife has done nothing at all

But stare blankly through the window

As the snow lays snow on snow

If it continues in this way

We shall have a white Christmas day

But my wife stares through the glass

As the snow falls thick and fast

Sadly, if it gets any worse outside

I'll have to let her come inside