THE RHYTHMS OF LIFE .. Maureen Clifford © The #ScribblyBarkPoet
I gazed out of my window on a morning drab and drear
the sky above held no skerrick of blue
"not enough to even patch a Dutchman's trousers" Mum would say
a saying she would trot out as Mum's do.
We watched as Mother Nature's tears slid down the window pane
the barbed wire fence held drops of moisture too;
likewise the fragile spiders web with diamonds now adorned.
Gum leaves washed free of dust sparkled anew.
We sat beside the window with a hot brew in our hands
and watched the grey clouds scurry 'cross the sky
"Clouds shift and drift and beg interpretation" my Mum said
"There's elephants and fairies passing by.
Sometimes when you were little you would see a Unicorn.
or claim to spot a fluffy teddy bear.
You always made me smile with your child's imagination
when I only saw gray clouds full of despair.
Sad faces are reflected in the rain swept window glass
I often wondered if the tears were mine.
I missed your Father so much when he gave up on the fight
I wasn't sure I'd make it at the time.
Gray clouds can gather slowly and they hang with misery -
a mist that wraps us up in its grey shawl.
Without you and the animals to care for everyday
I'm not sure I would have made it at all."
Then as we sat in quiet repose a feeble ray of sunlight
poked through the clouds and lit us in its glow.
Prisms of colour sparkled and the spider web lit up -
a thousand rainbows putting on a show.
And slowly like an artist painting one stroke at a time
the grey was painted out by blue on blue -
a colour like 'forget me nots' , a glorious azure shade
opaque and bright, a cerulean hue.
Our spirits lifted. Rapt we gazed across our paddocks green
delighting in the view we shared today,
as sheep and lambs ventured from 'neath the ancient ironbarks boughs.
Ewes wandered out to graze, whilst their lambs played.
The air was fresh and fragrant, all around was crisp and clean
enraptured by the witchery of sky.
so we threw all windows open to let the sunlight in
as small white clouds formed shapes that drifted by.
.......
My Mum's no longer with me - she has found her own white cloud
up above , she's drifting in the ether.
But when out in the paddocks in my own blue sky cathedral
I'm sure she has ten thousand stars beneath her
which she directs with precision for each nightly display -
she knows I love to watch the stars at night
I think of her and Dad with love - and laugh at every twinkle
and hope that star had got its rhythm right.
6.9.2022
