Thoughts of May - Published Cambridge News 28 May 2014

 

Thoughts of May

 

Breaking dawn with shrilling of birdsong

Saluting the upsurge of spring

While deep in hidden hedgerow nest

Those precious eggs their new life bring

Hawthorn blossom's heady perfume

Mingles with fragrant beanfield's bloom

 

Delicate ferns unfurl their fronds

In shady dell within the trees

Where bluebells share with orchid rare

The murmurous hum of honeybees

The moorhen chicks dart on the ponds

And ducklings creep among the reeds

 

Fluorescent squares of rape in flower

Patchwork the land with hi-vi yellow

Lurid against an angry sky

As cloud shadows go sweeping by

And silvered fields of barley ripple

In rays of sunlight clear and mellow

 

Clouds billowing up in turbulent tower

With indigo sky and chilling breeze

Eclipsing sun in sudden shower

Cleansing foliage with sparkling leaves

Then sun breaks forth with dazzling ray

Air keenly scented with elderflower

 

Great towering chestnut's massy boughs

Are laden with blossoming candelabra

In golden buttercups beneath

Contented cows in meadows drowse

And as they doze at daylight's close

The birds are singing their late sonata

 

From heaven above the lark pours down

His liquid exaltation

The darkling sky with starlight's glimmer

This atmosphere of jubilation

Fulfilment of nature's celebration

May opens the gateway to summer

 

 

Postscript

 

Perhaps May wasn't the gateway to summer

After all it appears that was a bit premature

As the rain continues we get glummer and glummer

And yet there is still more to endure

But the clover leaves are sprinkled with moonstones

And the air is freshened by ozone...