FROM THE ICY SUMMIT

 

From the icy summit

Of the mountain high

It begins to trickle,

Toward its destiny,

Trickle becomes rivulet

Rivulet into stream

Gathering momentum

Descending quickly

Its method brilliant

In its simplicity

Following the path

Of least resistance

On its purposeful descent

Growing ever stronger

In the great race

To its destination

Influenced by gravity

As it powers on

Ever deeper, ever wider

Ever more rapidly   

To form great rivers

Heading for their destiny

Which is fulfilled

When reaching the open sea

CACOPHONIC CHORUS

 

As if to chase the night away

And herald the dawn’s arrival

Birds awaken bright as the day

With the cacophonic chorus

Before the sun comes into view

To turn the sky from black to blue

THE MAJESTIC DISTANT MOUNTAINS

 

The majestic distant mountains,

Timeless sentinels, pale in the mist

Reach up to the sky like children

Expectantly waiting to be kissed

IN THE GLOW OF FIRELIGHT

 

In the glow of firelight        

I admire the stark beauty

Of the winter landscape

Beyond the frosty panes

Safe by the cosy fireside

WINTER MAGIC

 

Under the star filled winter sky

Moonlight illuminates the vale

Magically glinting on Icicles

And the crystals of icy rime

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

HYMENOPTERA VILLAIN

 

Insects are dangerous

That we all know

Some kill you quick

Some kill you slow

Some poison the blood

In your arteries

One particular specimen

Is the hepatitis bee

THROUGH THE MISTY DAWNING

 

Through the misty dawning

Of a crisp autumn morning

Like emerging from a dream

Amidst the haunting scene

I spy Pheasants in the frost

And in the moment, I am lost

UNDER AUTUMNAL SKIES

 

Under autumnal skies

The suns strength diminishes

With each passing day

And foliage turns slowly

From green to gold

To red, to brown

Before fluttering to earth

Where autumn breezes

Make them dance

To the seasons song

But dancing turns to fury

When breeze turns to raging storm

And autumn windfalls

Are sent swirling

As if caught

In a frenetic snow globe

Though the lucky ones

Escape the chaos

Being driven on the wind

Into quiet corners

Or beneath hedgerows

The rest whirl like dervishes

Hither and thither

Until the rains

Turn them to mush under foot

OCTOBER

 

Misty mornings
Start dim and dismal
Penetrating Dampness
Seeping into your bones
Some days it brightens later
Enough for shirtsleeves
Then when darkness falls
Curtains are drawn.
At the months beginning
Grass is still growing green
The trees are well covered still
Then leaves turn green to yellow
Yellow is burnished to gold
Gold to burning red
Then red to earth.
Beyond the equinox
Days have already become
More dark than light
Before the clocks fall back
And the sun sets sooner
Days of sunshine deceive
Sheltered pockets warm and confuse the senses
In the later days
When the residual warmth diminishes
The bite remains
To herald worse to come

IN THE AUTUMN MEADOW

 

In the autumn meadow

Everywhere was wet with Dew

And highlighted in the tall grasses

Were a myriad of lustrous webs

waiting to reward their architects

For their industry and patience

BENEATH THE DUSKY GREY SKY

 

Beneath the dusky grey sky

Of low scudding clouds,

The ambient air was damp

Blown in from the west

On the same storm fed wind

That chased the clouds

Across the autumn sky

THEY MUST CROSS THE BARREN EARTH

 

They must cross the barren earth

Where once wheat and barley grew

A land where nothing lives in the mud

And an eerie silence hugs the land

Until the chattering of machine gun fire

Breaks the quietness of the morning

And hails of bullets cut like a scythe

Until like wheat and barley they fall

THE MIGHTY OAK LAY BROKEN

 

The mighty oak lay broken

In the wake of the storm

And I am deeply saddened

For as a boy I climbed

Its mighty steadfast trunk

And sat amongst its limbs

Sheltering beneath its canopy

As generations of small boys

Had done many times before me

But then I saw an acorn

On the ground beside my feet

So, I picked it up and smiled

And took it home with me

So, I could grow his son

SPRINGTIME IN THE WOOD

 

Though winter snow still lies

In the wood’s bluebells grow

Appearing like sapphire jewels

Through the thawing snow

NIGHTINGALE SONG

 

The powerful and beautiful song

Of the common nightingale

Has a songful rhythm and rhyme

And the small passerine bird

Whose voice belies its size

Has beauty that strikes a chord

FOOTSTEPS IN THE FROST

 

A beautiful winter’s morning

When mist conceals the sunrise,

And nestles between

The frosty shadows of the trees,

And footsteps crunch

Through the crystal patterns

Of the crisp hoar frost

NOCTURNAL

 

Nocturnal creatures scurry

And bats take flight

As the owl stands sentinel

Over a woodland night

WATERY WORLD

 

In a river, barely worthy of the name,

Where the gentle water trickles back

Towards a greater watery world,

Lives the humble little stickleback

IN A COUNTRY LANE

 

In a country lane

Where the noise of a highway

Is thought too fanciful

A wagon carries bales of hay

As the farmer heads home

At the end of the day