Yesterday we studied stones
Today we came the slow way home
Our journey took a while
For we’d to stop at every downpipe
Every terraced house
To consider Incy Wincy’s climb
And his subsequent descent, in rainy downpour
Would he hurt himself at the final,
Falling, or come out smiling?
You wondered aloud, gauging each waterspout
The climbing up and the washing out
From a weary spider’s viewpoint, stance
You squatting on your haunches, peering
To assess
Similarly yesterday we studied stones
For there are many specimens
Heaped on the Brighton shore
To be dug and poured into buckets
Selected for size or colour, roundness
Piled into rock castles
Smoothed and rubbed and plopped
One by one, in the sea
How glad I am to slow and stop
To amble at your pace
To stand in a three -year -old’s shoes
To wonder why it is Tuesday
And whether a bee can smile
Poet and scientist, lost in the now
The what granny, why granny, how?
Today we came the slow way home
Our journey took a while
For we’d to stop at every downpipe
Every terraced house
To consider Incy Wincy’s climb
And his subsequent descent, in rainy downpour
Would he hurt himself at the final,
Falling, or come out smiling?
You wondered aloud, gauging each waterspout
The climbing up and the washing out
From a weary spider’s viewpoint, stance
You squatting on your haunches, peering
To assess
Similarly yesterday we studied stones
For there are many specimens
Heaped on the Brighton shore
To be dug and poured into buckets
Selected for size or colour, roundness
Piled into rock castles
Smoothed and rubbed and plopped
One by one, in the sea
How glad I am to slow and stop
To amble at your pace
To stand in a three -year -old’s shoes
To wonder why it is Tuesday
And whether a bee can smile
Poet and scientist, lost in the now
The what granny, why granny, how?
26th April 2007, Hanover, Brighton, for my little Luca with love
Precious times Sally.
ReplyDeletePrecious times indeed Gill and so much we learn from the child's eye level. A special gift of slow time which a granny can sometimes be privileged to share.
ReplyDeleteOooh you're back and needless to say this one I love and it has such a feel good factor sharing your time together.
ReplyDelete