Two poems from this morning

[Kris Hughes]

I've been feeling very homesick for Britain. These just poured out this morning. I wish I could say the writing made me feel better, but not really! Has anybody got a recipe for dealing with homesickness?

Thanks for reading!

I Lived in a Land that was Fair

I lived in a land that was fair
Freshened by rain
Kissed by dew
Comforted by clouds
And happed in mist

A land where in summer
We drowned in green
Green of abundance
Always the green, among the green
We were rich, we were many

Bees and butterflies
Nettle, thistle, goose grass, mallow
Dandelion, feverfew, bramble and yarrow
Meadowsweet, elder, hawthorn, rose
Apple, rasp and rosemary

Grass - always grass
Water - ever water
Stone and sky and cloud
Loch and lochan, burn and beck
Pasture and meadow, paddock, park

Green, ever green
Soft, ever soft
Comfort, ever comfort
Rain, ever rain
Grass, o grass, ever green


Fish in a Tree

I long to share the beauty
The softness of my world
And somehow by sharing
Reclaim it here

But you don't see it
And why should you?
"We fly," you say
"We have the air."

I would show you swimming
That I may swim again
You blink, uncomprehending
Say nothing, leave me here

How can you lack
When you never had?
How can you dance
When you've only trodden?

Can you hear my song just a little?
Can you sing it with me once?
No, you will never hear it
With the ear of softness

"We have this and that," you say
"We have the sky!
"We have the dusty earth
"We have the sun"

"What more could you want?
"What more ... what more ..."
The song you cannot hear
The dance you do not know

Although you will never know it
I still cannot be like you