Stretching a point

The mind that moves
         back and forth in time
that muses and reflects
         ponders and weighs up
past experiences
         and future prospects
—it is after all
         all in the mind
As a child I thought
         and played as a child
innocence in my words
          in my deeds

Time is a tale
         and in my bones
I feel the geology
         of all those years
the discourse
         of my days in the world
Born in the woods
         in the company
of foxes and squirrels
         the open field
was my natural habitat
         sunrise and sunset
the demarcations
         of my games
and ever since
         the accidental life
is the life I have led :
         love and betrayal
and the sorry mess
         of trial and error
Memory is the chain
         that binds me
to my being
         the memory
of my nature
         set among the roses
and the green lawns
         the endless autumns
of falling leaves
         the white winters
the sunstroked summers
         the gentle kiss
of time upon time
         lip to luscious lip
the saving grace
         of unaffected affection

John Lyons