Looking down from such rare and breaking site
To watch transparent wings flap the velvet sea
Ounces of oceans drained from chalky white cliffs
Where grasses took root and flowers windy peep
Peering  between yellow gorse on Tennison's Downs
We children, ran parted the *****, daring the edge
To be found, and there stood toes rolled gripping
Where grass meets air, the sparkling waters
And sailing ships, tugged the sea in mystery.

Love Mary **

She sits as only little girls do
Playing with the ends of her hair
Watching the boats come in
And go out
On the choppy Solent waves.
The shingle is wet glass
And clouds form playful shapes.
Looking behind she sees her father
Smiling as he carries dripping lollies
To console a sunless afternoon.

He reaches the promenade
With its concrete *****
Balancing feet without sight
He slowly walks towards her.
She senses his vulnerability
Love pours out
Soaking her dress with spray
As she moves
To help him
Those last few steps.

Love Mary

Brightest of the Spring blossoms
That in front of my window fill
These days with cascades of rosettes
On leaves like satin silk
And if I had within my strength
I would polish each and every one
So a mirror might be cast
Reflecting the noon day sun.
My Rose Red and Snow White
Bear out friendship's time
Sharing together what weather's blow
From raindrops to icey winds
And as April does appear
You once more turn to green
I look forward to the new shoots
Awaiting to be seen.


Love Mary x

Travelling by foot in whatever weather
I took to walking the gardens' route,
With single lens reflex camera
Still able to take the sort of pictures
That stop the eyes from wandering.
Photos in black and white
Where contrasts given a subtlety
Slowly revealing the depths
Of the familiar.

And into the park
Where rain, recently fallen,
Drenches the lens with jewels
Dropping from tree and cloud,
Sporadically,
Catching the light
With its rainbow spectrum
And collecting moments
Of nature's splendour
Into unnoticed places.

Love Mary ***

Out of the door past the flowering Camelia
And barely bursting rose buds
The white hellebores with their
Down turned eyes
And swaying narcissus
I run to catch them all
As they scatter the road
With their dancing
Tripping in and out of rhythm
With each other
Throwing ***** across
To catch,
The wind gathers them up
To the park entrance
Our lovely park
Green with many trees
I reach them at last
We float down the avenue
Linking arms with
A child's pleasure
We are here
All together
Forever.

Love Mary **

Find a Daisy and pick it up
From garden fronts
The gathering begins
A few leaves on a stem, fluttering,
Snap!
And in a pocket lays
Side by side
To a thread of black eyed germanium
And thé peppery seeds of aquilegias
Falling into seam corners,
Creeping up pathways
Hollyhock rings put in
And then take a chance
With stem of pink pearly,
Ceanothus.
Collection complete for Monday
Trot home to find compost
Then *** up in the sun.
My little treasures from
The free world .

Love Mary **

Pushing through the bushes
Four small heads
Tasting the rainwater
Dripping down their face
Step into a meadow
Filled with hay and grass
Long legged poppies
And tall buttercups
Flies in the air
Misty, cobweb trace
Come into the bright light
From this covered place;
Glistening in the sunshine
An arc across the sky
So gloriously brilliant
A rainbow for our eyes.
Standing together
In reverance for this sight
Only seen occasionally
When the weather's right.


Love Mary xxxx

All along the avenue of trees
Which leads down to the canal
Are spaces which cast shadows
Tall lengthening towers.

Down the avenue of trees
Many have walked
Some are missing, others gone
The gaps are like fallen trees.

The park, a monument to change
To the universal truth of sorrows
The welcoming joy of Spring
And every new footstep that begins.


Love Mary ***

As her feet left the ground
She found the tree
So positioned that its asymmetrical
Form filled out all her yearnings
For perfection.
Above, as she climbed, casting
A little shadow on the grass below
She thought how much beauty
Had been made by just this one thing
All on its own with only the sun and rain
And changing seasons for company.
It was her tree, it had found her
Lying, in her pram
Its leaves giving protection
To her heart, their movement
Taking away all fear.
Since that time she had returned
And thought of the wonder of
This tree, standing alone,
As she did now on the edge
Of wisdom.


Love Mary ***

In these silent times,
When the sun drapes its softnes,
Across bough and branch,
And birds make ready for night;
There is gathering in houses,
Conversations around tea,
An hour of revival,
As the roads quieten,
Before the coming together,
Of another day.

Lying  in the sunshine
I turn to you and smile
Across the busy ocean
Where the tables are
Beneath a blue umbrella
Celebrating beer
I hear you calling out
We're having fun here
Sipping Costa coffee
From a cardboard cup
I know you are a-hatching
Writing another plot.

In my perfect quietness
I whisper in the sand
Thank you for the knowing
The lending of a hand
Tides will change
And boats come in
But our friendship
Will always
just begin.
Love Mary ***

I use to take them,
Pocketed up against naked flesh,
Torn by hand so stem might survive,
Hidden before the park gates.

Yet there were gardens,
Along well walked streets,
Where I remembered flowering
Stalky jewel headed, against sky.

Slipped silently up the sideway,
Grabbing fists of seeded promises,
For next years storms,
And a nominated plot.

'Open Gardens', thief pickers paradise,
But a note on my garden wall
Says, 'help yourself', for we are
But a substitute for the birds.

Love Mary
Xxxxxx

In a garden far from home,
Sits a gentleman on his own,
Reading in the Summer sun,
A friend's letter that has just come.

Finding things to fill his days,
Which keep him active and engaged,
The trees need pruning, bushes cut,
And must not forget the special plot.

I bought this man a birthday gift,
A waterproof, patterned tablecloth,
So sitting in the Summer sun,
Can be, for him, a bit more fun.

Love Mary x