A quick dash of colour

A quick dash of colour
           to suggest dusty fields
of wheat and barley
           green pastures where
sheep and cattle graze
           the gentle hills and dales
through which blue rivers
           run their course
the red flourish of poppies
           in the wide meadows
quivering
           on their slender stems

the colour of earth
           and blue skies
and white clouds
           riding high :
this is where life lives
           where hearts break
and are mended
           and where energies
are all but exhausted
           in the pursuit of love

John Lyons