POETRY

Country Lanes

Let us take the country lanes, take time to smell the dew,

And if sometimes the quicker roads appeal to me and you;

Then gladly turn to where there is no paving and no street,

For I would have no more than grass and earth beneath my feet.

I sorely miss the hedgerow and at dawn the curlew’s call,

What I would give to once again count petals as they fall,

Hear village gossip, maidens laugh, the songbirds gay and free;

To stroll the country lanes with you yet be as one with me.

To flatter pasture flowers where e’re my footsteps go,

Discuss my heartfelt feelings with the breezes as they blow.

Doff my cap to life itself, when summer’s on the brow,

To greet the tiny beetle and the songbirds on the bough.

That I should set the pace of life, to pause when I would wish;

To build my bed at sunset, to dream and never miss,

A dawn, a single sunrise, the wine of summer dew;

But ‘fore I sleep I pray to dream my reveries of you.

My companion I shall choose to share each night and day,

No city life and streets but go the slow and country way.

To be as one with life itself for country lanes all lead to wealth