Only the crow

Only the crow
flies today
dark against the sky
daring the wind to tango
between ridge and cloud.

Only the crow
lifts my eyes up
steals my breath
in a whirling dive
of bravery.

Standing on the bench

Three years old
and arms reached high
touching the sky
on Selsley common.

I wrote this in the summer of 2020, as we were emerging from the first lockdown. Loved ones had died and been born without us being there. But over that beautiful, hard summer, there were also quiet moments of joy. Just over a year later my boys were back on the bench, a year older but still reaching for the sky.

Rolling down the hill

Leaves crackle
as two small boys
roll and roll.
Grass, sky, grass, sky.
The common
embraces them.
I watch them go.
Screams and laughter
as they roll away from me.
One blue welly
Left behind.