Tuesday 31 August 2010

End of August


August.

End of August and the bonfire smoke
climbs up the apple tree,
obscures the leaves and fruit
 and double masks the cloud-veiled, rounded moon.

Into the silence a dull apple thud.
and screech owl, calling, far away.
Twigs crackle
while the witch leans on her stick and smiles into the dark.
The moon, amazed,
stares at the sudden bonfire blaze
as cloud and smoke are gone.


Ten Good Reasons to Walk at Night.

First, you get to wear the invisible cloak
bespoke
fitting better than through the day.
You can drift in the dark
or sit on a tussock
and mull over things.
Those pink rubber flutes, called ears,
are finely attuned
to the drop of a leaf,
the air's sigh,
the heart beat of a deer.
Sharp edges, that might do harm in daylight
are softened by shadows in the night.
There is flight from the mundane.
The sixth good reason
 is  the sense that comes over you in darkness,
call it a, 'sixth sense',
about how things were, and are and will be.
And seventh is the heaven on a clear night
of seeing bears, both great and small
and myriads of others with no name at all.
There is no traffic spoiling,
no noise of people toiling.
An owl may call you
when you walk at night,
moving quietly,
cloak-covered and complete.

4 comments:

  1. not one, but 2 beautiful poems. wow.

    ~janet

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your witches are quite early. Ours don't come out until October.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great poems, nice to have you back.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Excellent work by our local W.B!

    ReplyDelete