Butterflies Wings (Afternoon with Macbeth)

Time passes,
time drags,
time repeats,
time snags,

Time ticks by.
There he lays.
The room is dark.
The room is cold.
Childrens’ voices pierce the veil.
Here is the killing of a King.
Lady Macbeth reaches out.
No-one grasps her bloodied hand.

Time rolls round
and time rolls round.
The end is set
by moments marked on a digital clock.
Death marks the walls with fast drawn chalk.
This is the circle ambition brings.
Generations repeat the sin.

In the street outside,
with early signs of April rain,
the swan bends down and folds its wings.

In the cafe down the road,
by the window where light falls
on polished wood, the books are glued,
their pages shut, their words unknown.
An old man shuffles by alone.

On every table in the room,
the yellow rose is in full bloom.
Shakespeare’s lips are butterflies wings.
Four friends meet and seal a bond.
They all know the plays the thing.

Happiness in Easter Park

In the park,
by the lake,
loud geese clamor
to be fed.

Little girl
in new red shoes,
polished
to a gleaming shine,
gazes at her face reflected
in the mirror of her toes.

Sitting on a wooden bench
she swings her feet
in quiet pleasure
and spreads her fingers
wide apart.

The sticky chocolate
melted fast.

The swans
spread out
their wide,
white wings,
lifting up
in springs
rare flight.

On a branch
the blackbird sings.

Everything is full of light.

Lazy Warwickshire Day

away from the town

a short walk away

nothing to hear

but the hum of the bees

deep in the foxgloves

bending their stems

exploring their throats

close by the reeds

nothing to hear

but ripples

soft lapping

and the splash of a ducks wing

taking a dive

nothing to hear but the warbling note

of the bright eyed blackbird

stalking the worms

and sometimes a cuckoo

hid in the trees

nothing to see

but the dazzling gleam

of sunlight on water

blinding your eyes

and the bright flamed robin

where he stands in his rags

and the white glare of light

that falls on the swans back

as he glides, slow, serene,

from the deep shade of willows

and the light that flutters and winks

with the breeze

through the trembling leaves

nothing to see but green rolling hills

vanish to distance

a shimmering haze

it’s hot today on the banks of the Avon

it’s one of those lazy Warwickshire days

 

 

 

Footnote

Robin in Rags = Ragged Robin, a wild flower