Cat's Cradle

Can we make a cradle for Dinah, she asks

Of course Little Cricket

We spend the morning gathering up

Cotton and woollen scraps

Smiling and absorbed in our task

Our absurd little bubble

She really will look like a dear

Wrapped up and dreaming 

A little angel

I would imagine we look quite the pair

Calm in our task, fighting away our nervousness 

There is a blue print we must follow

A model of rules and clauses 

To keep ourselves safe

We do not mind that it might be seen as clownishness 

For what we do is never wicked

We do not get angry unless we are stolen away

We line up our letters

Like records of time 

For there will be no tombstone 

Words and stories keep us afloat 

Sometimes make us blossom

Our secret language a dialect of our life

We hook together the last stitches

And stand back and clap our hands in glee

Dinah will sleep well tonight

And perhaps if we try very hard

We will sleep too.

For Shay's Word Garden

Love Is Love

What is love

Such a simple word which 

Rolls off the tongue

But is so hard to describe

Like a butterfly flying

Trying to escape the fate

Of a pin pierced through its colourful body

Too delicate and beautiful 

To be wrenched from life

Love is in the small things

A smile from a stranger 

On my morning walk

A message from a friend

Being awake

And wanting to be so

Drinking sweet tea with Alice

I never thought I could give

Or receive love

Although my heart has always been open

Now I know I can do both

Love even comes

On the days when I’m alone

Being kind to myself

Reading new words

Getting lost in stories

Perhaps imagination is love -

The gift of knowing there can always be more

And so love is love

An act

A feeling

Or simply a doorway

That opens up to possibility 

Waiting there for me to walk through

On the day that I am ready

On the day I understand my needs.  

Landscape

Even when I stay indoors 

There is still a world to see

Moving clouds

Peachy skies

Leaves falling from trees

In the distance are fields

The grass looks pillowy and soft

Welcoming to afternoon naps

In the sunshine

With strawberries and cream

She declares

Her body small

But her soul fierce beside me

Sometimes we fall

But together we find our feet again

Carry on our adventure

Playing chess and croquet

Watching Rabbit’s bobtail fluff up and down 

Bouncing on before us

Sometimes the world is full of colour

Other times it is black and white

I have learnt to tolerate both

They are a measure of how things

Twist and turn inside

After our adventures

We find ourselves on solid ground

Underneath the willow tree

Back in time for a second tea 

I look out on a landscape 

One of growth and hope

Keep my eyes and heart open

Make myself ready to belong.

Gossip

The cuckoo birds gossip in threes

They chime in their bizarre tones

Free in their golden cages

Faces hidden in beautifully 

Painted masks as if at a masquerade ball

Sometimes I am touched by their songs

As if every note tells a story 

A joke or a passionate kiss

I prefer the humble robins in the trees

Who do not need to scream

But sing in one true voice 

They awaken me from my quilted dreams 

And we welcome in the dawn together

Even through the screen of windows and walls

I can hear them

Celebrate with them

A full throstled burst to keep us close to each other 

And keep me anchored to the world

I leave the gaudy song birds

To their gossip

And sing my own song

No longer running

No longer hiding 

But slowly trying to glow inside

As bright in my soul 

As those gossipy external parakeet feathers.

For Shay's Word Garden

Mirror

5/9/2020

Mirror

We catch a casting glance in the mirror

Our hair a matted top

The music plays and we dance

The world spins and turns

The cans shout and play

We are out

We are out

We catch a casting glance in the mirror

1/2/2025

In the mirror we catch 

A casting glance of each other

We are out - in the real world

Although that comes with troubles

We are happy

And we can spy a faint smile 

Spread across our face

We no longer play with danger

We want to keep ourselves safe

We dance and spin and turn in glee

We did this - we moved forward

Made the days a little better 

Cut our hair and washed in sweet apricot scent

We have come a long way

To be able to look in the mirror with pride

And satisfaction 

We prefer looking out of windows however

Far better to see the outside world

The blue skies and storms

The treacle black darkness

And dotted stars

But we must separate

For it is not us looking in the mirror

- It is me. 

Eve Of Destruction

After the eve of destruction 

We have to rebuild 

Shining towers

And ringing bells

To herald in a new age

From the rubble we will prospect

Gold and riches

Hopes and prayers

We will build a safe place

One that is dark enough at night

To see the stars and crescent moon 

And light enough during the day

To admire peach blossoms

And marigold heads

Perhaps after every great fall

There is revolution 

In my small world not tipping over

Is celebration - one step closer to good

Or at least just right

I hope instead of casualties

There will be jubilant survivors

Stronger than the power of the fall

Perhaps in time we will remember fondly

The eve of destruction 

For out of it - like phoenixes - we will arise from the flames.

Owl

The owl comes to roost 

In the tree outside my window

I hear her yabber-yabber

As the sun begins to rise

It is as if she is speaking just to me

Another day

Another day

(Make of it what you will)

I imagine her golden wings

Fluttering like leaves on a branch 

As giddy as a dream

Her call sonorous as a cello

I would like to see her

But perhaps that is part of her miracle

Our magical relationship 

We are both unknown to each other 

Calling and cooing

Trying to seek each other out

I imagine her swooping up and away

Back into the wild

Just as dawn breaks 

The peach-melba sky, sweet and rosy

The coming light is more of a shriek than a song

A question - will you make the best day you can

I think a little stiffly that I will

And ceremonially wish the owl goodbye 

And whisper under my breath -

I look forward to hearing your song tomorrow.

For Shay's Word Garden