March

A day such as this
suffused with the well-earned, sub-cutaneous bliss
of the first full flush of Spring sunshine
easing down into our wintered Island bones

Enough of the snowdrops' tease!
Magnolia buds as pert as randy dogs’ cocks
now strain against the leash

The fig-tree is sharpening its spear-tips

Below Iffley lock
a lone cormorant plays
dive and seek
never to reappear
whilst
clouds of blackthorn
rain Aphrodisiac whispers
upon all who pass them by

Bees' knees tremble

Back home in the garden
the blackbird with the white skullcap
makes its welcome presence known
and
a local crow
all dressed up in his zoot-suit of coal-shine black
hops across the lawn
behind an anxiously hopping frog
as if in playful parody
before ascending to a garden bough
with his wriggling Vernal gift

I watch his coal-black beak
tug an elastic feast apart
with relish

Oh to hold the evening sun's descent at bay
and to bottle
such a day as this
before
familiarity unwittingly begins to blunt
this vital blade of gratitude