Raking over old ground

The simplicities of childhood
            that we carry with us all our lives
hope springs in springtime
            new life and lambing in the fields
daffodils grown and bought in bunches
            the lighter evenings
and a lighter heart
            the earth freshly groomed
and the prospect of love
            Resurrection and endless return
the promise of the coming months
            our pulses fired by the sun
and our delight in the swifts
            and swallows that return to the air

No trace of their human shadows
            down by Shad Thames
last year’s love nest abandoned
            the blinds drawn
and she gone south
            to nurse her shattered dream
to displace the memory
            of all that she had
of all that she so carelessly and yet
            so wilfully threw away

John Lyons