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Wait and See

I know it's February because the radio told me so
But today the air was clear and the sun was high.
There was no wind to notice nor flecks of rain
and the birds sang loud as they wheeled about in the sky.

It must be global warming messing with the seasons
As spring comes in early and the buds begin to show.
I feel my soul getting easy and I relax
But mindful that even yet there could come snow.

It has happened before and new shoots died
As the cold weather snapped back at we fools
Who had dug out the garden benches and brollies
And had made plans for mowers and tools.

Far better to wait and let more days go by
To see if the moods of the weather gods settle.
Enjoy the changing vista of fields and gardens
From behind window glass waiting for the kettle.

Summer is on the Way

Ah Skylark, Skylark
It's March and yet you sing
So early this time - 
So what will summer bring?

The warm and sunny days
Will burnish your happy song
Fields and ponds and leafy lanes
Will surely sing along.

For you are the harbinger
Of English summer times,
And as the world warms and changes
You will be busy in these clines.

The sound of your call freezes
My troubles old and new
For one blissful moment
I fly up there with you.

April 2004

Northey Island

Good morning little Island
Emerging from the marsh mist
You are now of little importance
But you are on histories list.

The Vikings camped in your fields
And waded to the mainland to fight
A King was lost to England here
Sunk beneath the Nordic might.

Your land size varies twice a day
As the tide rises and falls
Birds take sanctuary in your grasses
And fill the air with their calls.

The single house I see looks bleak
Alone on the higher grounds
But authors and painters were pleased 
To be free of neighbour sounds.

You can sit in pride small Island
Aloof from the mainland's frantic pace
The river embraces you fondly
And protects your insular space.