Ruskin Park, Lambeth

The stillness
           the silence
the magic of sunlight
           harvested
in the flowering orchard
           – quince and medlar
apple and pear
           a medley of berries

and in the meadow
           greater knapweed
ragged robin
           lady’s bedstraw
and ox-eye daisy
           all flourish

A common coot
           slips lazily into the pond
when it hears my step
           on the grassy path
is lost
           among the tall reeds
in the stillness
           in the silence

The days of dragonfly
           will soon be upon us
winter a distant memory
           love in the air

John Lyons