She came sometimes
To the end of the lane
And sat on the bench.
Looking at books
...
In a Kaftan coat and an Afghan hat
On a box by the side of the road he sat
And played a battered
Piano accordian.
...
As she walked upon the sand
She dropped a pebble from her hand
And I, curious,
Picked it up and studied closely.
...
Oh to be that child again
And ride my bike down Ferry Lane.
Wind and speed conspired with the sun
To steal my heartbeats
...
There was a gamekeeper's cottage in Wiseholme Wood.
Nestled in a clearing,
Of warm red brick and rosemary tile.
And ringed by a slowly waving and cheering throng
...
It hangs on a nail
At the back of the shed
With a mantle of mould
And a spider's web makes a veil.
...
This whispering hour in the Autumn
Lends best to consider his way.
His looking, frail, through pale frames, and
Pensive.
...
I am Miriah, from the old wood.
Sometimes I'm naughty
Sometimes I'm good.
I live in the wood, so green and so wild.
...
There was a mystic, antique maggot
In the ochre eye
Of a man who played reeds on the burial mound.
And an eel in the ditch
...
Dockerty Sprocket dropped her clock
Right out of her shopping basket.
She wanted to pine but she hadn't the time and thought she'd better ask it.
So she went to butcher
...
In grief she came to stand alone
To gaze upon the names in stone,
The fallen in the wars of man
From Passchendaele to Afghanistan,
...
Someday I'll walk away with you,
Stealing across the early dew.
Showing to the sunrise
A friend to trust my heart,
...
It was windy on the day we wed.
The little breeze blew fragile leaves
Like silver lace
Across the face of the sun that peered through
...
Girl On A Bench
She came sometimes
To the end of the lane
And sat on the bench.
Looking at books
Of Latin or French,
But really came to dream
And watch the world go by.
And I
In passing, just said 'Hi'
Looking scruffy and feeling shy.
I knew she was a kind girl,
Clever and funny
With flaxen hair,
I hardly ever saw her there.
And I was plain and country-rough
And didn't sort of know stuff.
But she was just
The most intriguing soul
In my small world.
Fifty years on I can google in vain,
I can't get back to the end of the lane
And look for the girl with the flaxen hair
Who once in a while was sitting there.
A soulful girl
Who sat on the bench
And looked at books
Of Latin or French
But came to dream.
Cyberspace may empower us a lot
But can make me feel like a worthless dot.
But I could walk past that bench
On any evening
And feel
A small presence,
A warmth
That makes me look back.
And in that moment
Cyberspace could shrink
To nothing, nothing
Dwarfed
By a simple memory.
Of a girl in my small world.
A girl who sat on a village bench
In a place I loved.
A place where I was worth more.