down Box Hill’s summer green slopes,
laughing, unconcerned
school term. The need to
impress, compete, be noticed –
summer’s joy withers
anxiety kills
the easy joy of being.
Nothing’s simple now
the mirror shows lines
of worry. Sinews stiffen.
Spirit fades to stone
longing for Eden –
where is the unguarded gate,
the secret way home?
age, perhaps, or pain
lived through, let go, may teach a
different wisdom
look in the mirror
and laugh. Tell that clownish self,
‘So long,’ and move on.
beyond the mirror,
through the unlatched garden door,
gazing, listening
an unselfconscious
blackbird perched aloft sings out –
raucous, defiant
lace pink petals on
rubber green rhododendron
leaves: simply themselves
not at the centre,
worlds not orbiting me, free
to rejoin life’s dance
