The sea a sheet of molten gold,
Shimmering under a fiery sky,
The beach was deserted,
Sailing craft secured against the night tide,
Carefully built sandcastles awaited their obliteration,
A few seagulls picked over picnic wrappings,
I stood, alone, as the the sun dropped below,
Allowing the darkness over the horizen,
It was the end of another wonderful day,
And I felt full of gratitude for the chance of being born.

Love Mary **

Ten minute walk.

From the bungalow to the beach it took ten minutes,
Up hill and down lane passing the Catholic Church,
A small country primary school and row of council houses;
Then at the crossroads by the Post Office, selling sweets,
With Turf Walk to your left and hotels on the right,
Began the steep decline, to the sound of an incoming tide.

Once a year, this first day of The Family Summer Holiday,
Shievering with excitement, buckets and spades in hand,
Wanting to run, to find last year's spot of sand and water,
The seaweed and rock pools, boulders and clumps of clay,
The joy of an eternal return, the comfort of familiarity,
Where play had ceased and foot prints been washed away.

IOW ,Totand Bay by Mary x

Beauty and purpose.

In your garden I see my flowers,
Given with grace to share for a smile,
We started with roses, yarrow and thyme,
Adding poppies, géraniums and sweet dandelion;
Now it is, a herbal paradise,
Collecting fragrances pure and bright,
Healing properties grown with love,
To make people better,
Show them what's right.

To Victoria and Pieter
Love Mum ***

When life was simpler
Than today
We lived it in
A different way
When visiting a friend
Or someone new
Always took a posy too.

Mother would, kindly, ask
If I minded doing a task
Gathering flowers
with perfumed scent
Trailing ferns to decorate
Make a bundle of delight
As a token
Of friendship's sight.

Into our garden
I did went
With my scissors
Slightly bent
Chose from all
the pretty plants
A stem or two
From every branch
A bouquet of delicate blooms
On this sunny afternoon
Bound them up with silvered foil
A ribbon tied into a coil.

Showed my Mum
The lovely bunch
Kissed me with
A tender touch
Found a vase
To rest them in
Until the time to begin
Dressed in best
Coat and frock
With Mother ready
We did knock
What a joy it was for me
A happy face to see.

Never forget that simple life
When giving posies
Was so nice .

Love Mary xxxx

Eight pots under my front window,
Not selected but a random collection,
Presents in tubs, seed floated flowering,
Remains of painstaking gardening,
And days of inspiration and sun;
And still in one a yellow wallflower,
Finding a home, colourful and bright,
Not waiting to dance but abundant self,
Bearing out the winter storms,
To give its beauty in return for chance,
Underneath my window sill.

Mary Kearns

I think of this bench
In the shade of two small trees,
Surrounded by roses,
And in Winter their thorns
Spike the damp earth.

How will it be years hence,
When children sit
And women knit,
Some at lunch, finding
Peace looking at the sky.

I put it there for you and you and you
So that its comforting presence
Is a reminder of our days
And your tomorrows
In this garden I loved.

Love Mary xxxx

The last of the Summer roses
were cut today
collecting the remaining flower heads
to keep in a vase
until colour fades
and petals fall.

Love Mary

We live near the corner
Where two roads cross
Trees to the right
Give beauty and light
Ever changing colour
The Sycamore and the Pine
A Hawthorn  blossom, cerise
In Spring time;
Today this place
Is spread with snow
Patterned tracks
Where the cars go
Over garden walls
Ice drips stripes
Of frozen crystals
In the grey light;
This corner where we live
Is always a delight
A very spectacular sight.


Love Mary

Under the damp and darkened skies
The smell of Autumn begins:
The leaves of the deciduous trees,
begin to fall,
Dew forms pools in the cobwebs,
The days get cooler and flowers,
Change direction,
Moving backwards,
They begin to close,
Preparing for the dormant period.
We ,too, know the shutting down,
When slowness creeps into our souls,
And energy leeches out from within.
Let this time be that of reflection,
A tidying up of a life,
And all bitterness or sorrows,
Allowed their freedom,
For what is it,
But to be polite.

Love Mary x

SUMMER'S END.

The skies have been overcast,lately.
Draining the flowers of colour,
Bringing Autumn varieties adjacent
To August stock.There is a tiredness
In the stormy winds, a dusting of dry leaf.
We bring water in cans to restore
The last of this Summer's glory.
And hope for just a few more days
When one can bask in the blueness
In ignorance of Winter's call;
With the months of indoors
When perfumed air is gone.
The dampness in spider's dew
Replacing our Summer song .

Mary

There were days of continual wetness
When the beach huts
Suffocated
Limiting pleasure
To mealtimes
And quick dashes to the
Sea.
Ice creams stayed frozen
In their wrappers
And craneflies buzzed
In the corner
Making the humidity
Irritated
After a fortnight
We were glad to go home
Next year was a long way off.

Love Mary x

The Millitary road was long and narrow
Hugging the contours of the cliff face
As braiding on a dress,
He teased me
Dancing the children in a line
Along the slim path
Edging  the fallen away grassland.
Dotted every hundred yards or so
Wire cages
Announced memorial sites
For the fallen.
The waves echoed a deathly hush
Crushing against broken boulders
A hundred yards below;
Eventually the path terminated
Running into turf,
The children took up my hands
Again
And the day proceeded as normal.

Love Mary

For all those who like danger.

The gardens are having their wedding day
All dressed in shades of white
With bouquets of greenery
Tucked neatly out of sight.
Magnolia Stellata
Grows a feathered gown
Fit for any regent queen
To stand and take her vows.

Less extravagant but equally graced
The Camelia is in full bud
Clusters of rosaries
Pinned against leaf lace.
Of all my loves is The Bride itself
Abundant in its ecstasy
A cascade of loveliness
Showers like pearl beads.

Not forgetting the Snowdrops
The Brunnera and Daffodils
The Weddings are for all of us
To stand and watch at will.

Love Mary