Scenery

I sit behind a small bureau; the window I undo,

Bashful Brightness tiptoes through

He perches upon my face, warms my blood

And settles upon his place, he stifles a sigh

The bright eyes are questioning why?

I wilt and wither, I shake my head,

With the need to study what it is that is dead.

Yet Wistful Wind will not let it be so,

With Brazen Breeze she rattles my window

To give a tender tug towards the door

And so my studies will commence no more.

Out, out of the coop the little bird swoops

Into the crystal dome that surrounds the sky,

And so no higher can the little bird fly,

But with all that can be seen, what more can you desire?

When you have the beauty of wind, earth, water and fire?

For the sundrenched dew that litters our land

Are the sparkling gems that wet my hand,

The rainbows that prance across pools and lakes

Are routed by Ripple’s giggles as calm water breaks.

Towering nymphs that bathe in streams,

Their curls of emeralds stolen from Queens.

Picasso and Van Gogh, encased from our eyes

Must surely fight to colour our skies,

And after their small scuffle is done,

After a morning’s work has begun,

The ruckus persists, and a tin is tipped,

It falls, blotching our sky with a certain hue

Today they’ve spilled the brilliant blue.

But affluence comes with searching our land

Guzzling the gold of pebbles, seashells and sand.

Sunbeams that salsa between the cracks in leaves

Are all the riches we fools could need,

I feel there is no greater price one can pay

Than to be blind to earth on a sunlit day,

Or to be deaf when birdsong can be heard

Over all that is mechanical, artificial and absurd.

For I’ve never known such happiness in me

To swell so swiftly, when I see what I see,

And to be sourced by such simple scenery

Tells us, deities, that we do not need

To suffer from loathing, lust and greed.

So lift thine eyes from thy cobbled course,

Gawk, gape or gaze, just for a moment or two

See the small world slowly surpassing you,

It could take your breath, maybe pull you apart

Because for a world so beautiful, it breaks my heart.