72 micro-seasons 27

Janey...

Now the first poppies,

and refugee buddleia 

peer from the hedgerows

Beverley...

There is no hate crime

In the tall waving grasses

Thistles find their place

Helen...

Sultry summer air,

Heat hanging with its tongue out,

The birds know it’s wrong.

Echo

Echo of the past

at the corner of my eye -

a ghostly presence

72 micro-seasons 26

Janey...

Wars, rumours of wars -

by firelight I'll watch the moon,

full, above the cliff

Helen...

Garden party guests -

Wine, egg sandwiches, jam scones,

Then walk, enchanted.

Kit...

High above the pike 

skylarks sang full tilt - a sound

that made the moor gleam

For Marta

On tentative wings 

our fragile-flight of kindness 

encircling the earth 

1970#2

And do you still sit,

one hand clasped around your knee,

on the floor, as I do?

1970

A long ago cave, 

a scrap of paper, quiv'ring,

goodbye love, it said

72 micro-seasons 25

Janey...

Litany of light -

calendula, nasturtium,

roses in the rain

Kit...

The morning is hung

with a necklace of Yorkshire

fog, jewelled with raindrops

Helen...

It is worth the wait: 

Bugloss sown in ‘twenty three, slowly turning blue.

Beverley...

smattering discord,

A litter of crows swirls up

from the far tree tops

72 micro-seasons 24

Janey...

Just a memory,

yesterday's raging torrents -

my mind a still pool

Helen...

All those garden gaps

Now full: blousy peonies,

Toadflax, Orach, Rose.

Kit...

New fern fronds unfold

like tired fiddle heads stretching

after hours of play 🎵 🎶 🎵

Beverley...

Bees with greedy feet

Dance in the poppy pollen;

Delicious humming