Willow Walk

iris amaryllis and rose

we take the signs of spring and call them grand

each knows they'll weep some day to see them pass

immortal symbols set by mortal hand

 

words tell us little but they have to stand

for all our knowledge of the wind on grass

we take the signs of spring and call them grand

 

since each bright sigil comes at sun's command

and all together form a joyous mass

immortal symbols set by mortal hand

 

reflection of the heart sprung from the land

for one short season then they're gone alas

we take the signs of spring and call them grand

 

inadequate the words so brief and bland

lacking in strength and grace like so much gas

immortal symbols set by mortal hand

 

need so much more for sentiments they fanned

their colours cannot stay within the glass

we take the signs of spring and call them grand

immortal symbols set by mortal hand

shipwrack

there's no occasion to admit defeat

beneath an empty sky of callous blue

in this proud season when we must renew

so many hopes our senses cannot treat

these many messages of the hard street

as what they are and the time's overdue

for easy answers so the young must rue

what they can't know and old ones lose the beat

we change the era as we change our socks

in solemn mode but yet with little thought

of any deeper meaning in the act

one moment free the next cast on the rocks

with every motion seeming overwrought

our species lost now between truth and fact

sort of arrival

no one who feels the changing seasons' bite

can be assured that growth is purely good

since each tall tree each ancient of the wood

that waits there leafless through the winter night

with chilly taproot is in the same plight

as you might be and has for long withstood

the final pain in ways you wish you could

but it wont matter there'll be a last rite

spring is too short and one day sap won't rise

to renew bud and energise new leaf

but for the moment all we have is time

and universes open to our eyes

the products none of them of our belief

while every limb towards the sun must climb

spring leaves

the saplings in the yard are in first leaf

their spring has now begun but it is late

maples they are and ruddy in relief

 

we ask the world for hope and no mischief

to strike us as we come out through the gate

the saplings in the yard are in first leaf

 

the pleasant season but we know it's brief

yet we are forced each year to a long wait

maples they are and ruddy in relief

 

time strikes us now as a harsh nasty thief

we look in pain at every passing date

the saplings in the yard are in first leaf

 

but life's revival brings no great relief

we're in the season of pain and debate

maples they are and ruddy in relief

 

all they can do now is recall hard grief

not reconcile us to eventual fate

the saplings in the yard are in first leaf

maples they are and ruddy in relief

resurrection

hyacinths and daffs in the flowerbed

those eager plantings of last summer's heat

they are the voices of our dearest dead

 

we have not asked just what the blossoms said

nor listened long to the black loamy beat

hyacinths and daffs in the flowerbed

 

have no regret nor signal any dread

their meaning is not evil it is sweet

they are the voices of our dearest dead

 

returning to us in the garden spread

in sudden colour in the light complete

hyacinths and daffs in the flowerbed

 

each shocking signal sent right to the head

and heart that with old sorrow is replete

these are the voices of our dearest dead

 

gone now but leaving us with souls full fed

since life refuses to accept defeat

hyacinths and daffs in the flowerbed

they are the voices of our dearest dead

creation song

this is the choice that we defy the night

for a short time and keep alive a spark

timid perhaps but worthy to remark

a simple thing of note to honest sight

rejection of the vast kingdom of blight

a wisdom that calls on us to skylark

with laughter to ignore the final dark

empowering the fragile human light

each one is a beginning we are told

to be recorded and to be advised

of what's around below and what's above

to find out what is clay and what true gold

what's best admired and what's best despised

the fruit of all our hope and all our love