The Unforgiving Day

On this dank

This dark

This gloomy

This grim

This unforgiving  day

I can just see,

Behind that tree

In a sequestered

Corner of the garden

Green shoots,

Spikes of hyacinth

At the far end

Underneath

The orange blossom tree

Herald hope for better

Here a Robin

Unaccustomed

Sitting deep within

The silent pyracantha

Hard up against my window

Blinking not at my red nose

Pressed against the pane.

We fix each other,

Seeing eye to eye

Sure of sharing

The burden of the day.

And together hear

The nought so lonely

Curlew's  cry.

We need

Shafts of sunlight

To father forth

The finches wings.

To splash the hedge

With colour

And new things.

Now at noon

The tide returns

With mist that seeps

Round garden walls

Lifted from the south

By a pale sun.

And with a sudden flurry

A score of starlings come.

As ever I am tempted

To look up.

JL Jan 11  12:07