72 Miles From The Sea, Paul Curtis [best book club books for discussion .TXT] 📗

SPRING

REBORN

Mountain snows thawing
Swollen rivers causing
Nature dormant awakening
Newlife into breathing
Sprouting shoots arriving
Early cherry blossoming
Annual event occurring
Life’s cycle repeating
Spring time refreshing
Simple senses pleasing
Gods design believing

THE SNOW QUEEN

The Snow Queen Banished
To Slumber Again Unseen
As Mother Nature Paints
Again The Landscape Green


REAWAKENED

Nature Reawakened
As The Long Winter Dies
Naked Boughs Are Dressed
Spring Causing Sap To Rise
The Resounding Birdsong
Fills Again The April Sky’s
And The Warming Earth
Releases Daff’s And Narcissi’s

MORNING GLORY

It was in the bright spring morn
The birds awoke at crack of dawn
Though the light was still dim
They hop twixt branch and limb
Day begins with the dawn chorus
And starts the day for all of us


SUNLIGHT DANCING

Bright sunlight dances across the open water
Glinting like diamonds in the soft march winds
The surface occasionally broken by rising fish
Far-reaching ripples expand as a splash rescinds

Without warning the morning peace is shattered
The silence broken by breeding ducks in a brace
Flying and gliding effortlessly in perfect harmony
Until clumsily hitting the water with a lack of grace

An intruder and his dog appears on the lakeside path
The alarm is raised by geese honking frantically
Adult swans noisily adopt their defensive stance
Huge wings out-spanned and charge dramatically

The once tranquil scene is lost in a cacophony
All the nesting wildfowl have now been alerted
The intruder and his dog disappear along the path
The peace returns now the danger has been averted


Bright sunlight again dances across the water
Glinting like diamonds in the soft march winds
The surface occasionally broken by rising fish
Far-reaching ripples expand as a splash rescinds

SPRING

As spring comes around again
With its abundant falling rain
The rolling hills of luscious green
Are most pleasing to be seen
And with the renewal of spring
The heart lifts as if taking wing
When Daffodils break through
And spring flowers of every hue
Is their a better time on earth
To feel wealth of natures worth


SPRING IS SPRUNG

Hallelujah
Its spring again
With warm sunshine
In between showers of rain

Hallelujah
The spring is here
It’s such a joy
All at once the senses clear

Hallelujah
Spring has begun
New life everywhere
All at once cobwebs are gone

Hallelujah
Its spring once more
This one is better
Than the one we had before


Hallelujah
Its spring again
Not so clever
When you’re caught in the rain

Hallelujah
The springs nearly over
Bloody showers
Still it will soon be summer

THE THROWS OF SPRING

Its spring time
When beauty is released
Like a hand stitched
Patchwork masterpiece
Nature shows off
Her spring time finery
Spread like a throw
Over all you see


THE GREEN SEASON

Abundant rain
And warm sunshine
Paints the landscape afresh
Replacing the drabness
Of greys and browns
When the greens appear
In their infinite variety
Nature’s pallet used abundantly
Greens of every hue and shade
Fields of luscious green grasses
Trees speckled with bright buds
Like a vivid rash
Against brown limbs
Hedgerows sprout into life
While bulbs push through
The contrasting earth
Everywhere awash with viridity
Only in spring
Can the same colour
Appear in so many guises
So many variations
A veritable myriad
Across the spectrum
From dark olive to bright lime
Drab khaki to exotic emerald
Shades vivid and vibrant
And all this is but a pre cursor
Preparing the senses
For the coming
Explosion of colour

REFRESHING SPRING

Refreshing spring
The season of renewal
When nature will release
Her early jewels


THE AMBLING STREAM

The early morning sun
Glints on the ambling stream
Where the Kingfisher hunts
And lovers go to dream

CYCLE OF LIFE

God’s great cycle of life’s repeating
Springtime’s annual event occurring
As distant mountain snow is thawing
Fast flowing swollen rivers causing
Dormant Mother Nature awakening
The miracle of new life into breathing
With freshly sprouting shoots arriving
And simple sights the senses pleasing
To see the early cherry blossoming
Perfection as in God’s design believing


SPRING IS HERE

Before the dawn has fully broken
I am all at once awoken
By wondrous songbird symphony
Though to some it is cacophony
But to hear the dawn chorus
Singing songs, loud and joyous
So my heart is simply soaring
For the season that I’m adoring
Now that its Spring my heart is lifted
For another Spring that God has gifted
When daffodils burst from the ground
And in the breeze they dance around
Grass is growing lush and green
The greenest that it has ever been
And with cherry blossom on the tree
Spring is here for all to see


THE HIGH MELT

The high melt waters rush
Feeding springs annual event
As over the ancient rock
Water tumbles effervescent
As it heads inexorably to the sea
In its headlong descent

THE HILLSIDES IN MAY

No finer sight the eye will see
Than the hillsides in May
A carpet of green spread out
So as to take your breath away

SUMMER

SUMMER GARDEN

Suspended Baskets Spill Scented Color
Gently Swinging In The Summer Breeze
Pollen Drifts Unseen in the Fragrant Air
Causing Sufferers to Cough and Sneeze

Maids Scantily Clad In Pastel Colors
Girls Wearing Little to Keep Them Cool
Scanty Outfits Set Men’s Pulses Racing
The Men Who Watch Sit Back and Drool

Men in Shorts Wear Socks with Sandals
Middle-aged Women Dressed Up As Lamb
Deciding To Satisfying Their Appetite
Eating Sandwiches of Cheese and Ham

Lunch Consumed and Glasses Emptied
The Drink Is Drunk So No More Boozing
Homeward Now They Make Their Way
To End the Day by Dozing or Snoozing

Babies Asleep in Buggies or Prams
Children Laugh From Slide and Swings
The Garden Full Of Carefree Chatter
Roaring Trade Till the Last Bell Rings

SHORELINE

We walk together hand in hand
As we stroll across wet sand
The sun sets, as the day grows old
Turning silver seas to shining gold
We continue our walk in twilight
As the moon illuminates the night
And the stars adorn the heavens
The sea breeze soon then freshens
Surf moves higher up the shore
We head back to home once more


CAUGHT IN A STORM

The sky blackened
Dark as night
Then comes the flash
Of a Lightning strike
As the storm ensued
Panic struck me
Thunder rattled overhead
I fell upon me knees
I prayed to God
Spare me this day
I prayed to God
To chase the storm away
Then the skies lightened
And silence was all around
A gentle rain fell
As I raised from the ground
Then everywhere about me
Cherry blossoms blew
Like gentle pink snow
And immediately I knew
You had heard my prayer
You had protected me
You where there in every petal
Of that cherry blossom tree

A BUTTERFLY FLUTTERS BY

Butterflies flutter by
On a balmy summer afternoon
An earthy fragrance in the air
After a shower of summer rain
Mingles with jasmine and honeysuckle
And you doze on the patio
Only to be awoken
By the more powerful fragrance
Eminating from the BBQ
And the chink of ice in a G & T


SUMMER STORM

A white cloud
Appears on the once
Clear blue afternoon sky
Like a careless splodge of white
On the blue canvas of an artist
It bubbles up
Then races across the blue
Another appears bigger this time
Then another and another
And as they move across the sky
They cast their shadows across the land
Patches of light and dark
Appear to move over the landscape
Like a giant kaleidoscope
One of the sunny patches
Illuminates the weeping cherry
Where the gold finches sing
Then there is more cloud than sky
The small white clouds
Have now bubbled up and darkened
And from the lake the Geese speak
To no one in particular
Saying that a storm is coming
In the distance the mountains
Stand out starkly
Against the ever darkening sky
The first sounds of thunder
Roll around the valley
Sounding like a distant train
Getting nearer and louder
Silent lightning streaks
Across the blackening clouds
Then a thunder clap
Not to be mistaken for a distant train
Large raindrops hit the ground
Dappling the dry earth
Strumming on the roof tops
And the tops of parked cars
In a reassuring rhythm
And as the last dry spot disappeared
The torrent began
Falling vertically like monsoon rains
Lightning streaks dazzled the eyes
And almost instant thunder shook the house
The waters of the lake
Erupted like a pot coming to the boil
And day was turned to night
Slowly the rain eased
And the storm rolled on
Blue coloured the skies again
The Geese spoke again from the lake
Gold finches sang once more
And the air was filled with the scent of wet pines

LAZY SUMMER

Wildflowers in the meadow
The lark up in the sky
The days are long and languid
The land is warm and dry
The lazy days of summer
Just pass you slowly by


LONG LAZY SUMMER DAYS

Long lazy summer days
Collecting shells along the shore
Long lazy childhood days
I wish them back once more

THE ABERGELE ROADS

At dusk we walk slowly by the shore line
The waves lapping at the sand break gently
While children play among the craggy rock pools
Or happily skimming stones on the sea
Dogs chase balls as we stand to consider,
The tide is it in, or out, no matter
The setting sun lights up the western sky
Illuminating stray clouds with gold strands
Then surrounding them with bright bursting rays
This sunburst silhouettes the beachcombers
Then blinds us all as it hits the wet sand
As quickly as it burst on us it was gone
Until we are blinded by the next one
Before the horizon swallows the sun

ON SUN SCORCHED SAND

Beneath my shoeless feet
The sun scorched sand
Burned those who dwelt too long
In admiration of the vista
Beneath the swaying fronts
In the shadow of the palms
The white sands
Offered cool respite
I rested a while
Before I journeyed
Across the sun baked sand
To become immersed
In the cool of the ocean

AUTUMN

BENEATH AUTUMNAL SKIES

Beneath autumnal skies
The suns strength diminishes
With each passing day
Then foliage turns slowly
From green to gold
And finally to red and brown
Before fluttering to earth
The gentle late summer breezes
Make them dance
And when breeze turns to raging storm
They’re sent swirling
As if court in some frenetic snow globe
The lucky ones escape this chaos
And ends their short lives
Trapped Beneath hedgerows
Or blown into quiet corners
The rest whirl like dervishes
Hither and thither
Until the winter rains
Turn them to mush under foot

GOLDEN GOWN

The deciduous trees still have their foliage on
With autumn changing hues like a chameleon
From yellow and gold and red and brown
Some leaves have already began falling down
Then the autumn gales come quite inevitable
Leaving the once proud trees quite skeletal
Sadly now all the leaves have fallen down
Thus