Sunday 12 April 2009

Early Morning.











Tread softly
if you walk in the early morning,
when the silence is absolute;
when the song of the chiff-chaff,
the blackbird
and the thrush in the tall pines,slice through the silence and
leave it intact.




The seagulls circle in a thermal -
swooping and rising in silence -
as though they dare not break it
with their raucous cries.
The silver water, catching the morning light
slips and slides over the stones
with a gentle sound,
bubbling past the celandine,
the marsh marigold
and the butter burr
all pushing their greedy roots towards
the stream bed.
Tread softly, and savour
the freshness, the newness
that every morning fills the air.
There is a cleanness,
a new beginning
every morning.
Keep the silence
until the first sound of a car
breaks the moment
and the day begins.

## Photographs from my walk at 7.30am this morning. The swallow is still alone and waits on the wire; the vegetable garden begins to awake with peas, beans and onions in the ground and the strawberry and raspberry plants fed; the first cowslip on the hedgerow bank;
the garden shows off at its best.

28 comments:

Dragonstar said...

Beautiful! Thank you so much for this. No swallow here yet, but should be soon I hope.

Robyn Kadis said...

Beautiful sentiments and pics... I could just feel the fresh spring air on my cheeks as I read.... Happy Easter.

Heather said...

What a beautiful poem - it expresses my own feelings perfectly. You have a wonderful veg. garden - I am quite envious of all that space but wouldn't have the energy to keep it up to scratch. I hope your swallow will find a mate soon, and I hope you are feeling better.

Grizz………… said...

Just lovely—and beautiful photos.

Unknown said...

Hello Weaver,

Just how Sunday mornings ought to begin - bright and beautiful!

Totalfeckineejit said...

Beautiful indeed , put me in mind of Yeats so all I can say in reply is....

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Leenie said...

You captured my favorite part of the day.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Hope the swallows soon come, Dragonstar.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks Adel and Robyn - I keep trying to leave a comment on your blog but with no success. Thanks for visiting.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Heather - am completely better thank you. That wonderful veg garden is the product of having a wonderful husband who likes gardening - he has spent all day today in the front garden - a lot of the time sorting out overgrown montbretia and winkling up celandines!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks Scribe and Derrick for the comment - doesn't the garden always look better in a photograph - cameras seem to ignore weeds, don't they?

The Weaver of Grass said...

tfi - thanks for reminding me of Yeats - I love that poem - would that I were anywhere near in the same class - but at least my effort reminded you so that is something.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Leenie - it is my favourite part of the day too - I can never understand how anyone can stay in bed in the morning once they are awake!

Reader Wil said...

What a wonderful post and lovely poem. This is a poem I can understand! You see many modern poems are often cryptic, that goes also for Dutch poems of today.

The Solitary Walker said...

Just beautiful, Pat.

Rob said...

Hi Weaver, looks like someone has been busy in the garden, do you have anything in the greenhouse yet?

Sal said...

Our sky was exactly that colour today!!
Hope you had a good day ;-)

Woman in a Window said...

Spring just has its own cadence, doesn't it. IT breathes life into us.

Crafty Green Poet said...

beautiful light, i hope the swallow gets company soon...

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Edward and I hope you have enjoyed a lovely Easter. By these photos, it looks like you have! We wish you lots of joy and lots of chocolate!!

Hildred said...

Beautiful pictures, - both the photos and your words....

Gwil W said...

Very lovely. And have now seen my first swallow. Just the one, the genuine early bird.

Dave King said...

Looks like my kinda place. I shall be sure to visit next time I'm thata way. Enjoyed the post.

Janice Thomson said...

Such lovely photos of a spring day do much to cheer the soul on this dreary rainy day here.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for the comments - seems the swallow thrills us all - and seems you are all larks rather than owls as the early morning beckons you more than the evening!
In reply to Bob - I am ashamed to say that a gale blew most of the glass out of our greenhouse a few years ago and we have not replaced it. We tend to be away at a crucial time for seedlings and early tomato plants and it is not fair to expect our farm manager to look after them - so in reply to your query - we only use the greenhouse for growing early potatoes in boxes of compost - and that works very well as the small amount of glass there is means that the temperature is that little bit warmer.

BT said...

How lovely, both the words and photos Weaver. Our cowslips are just out and we have a hybrid too, a cross between a cowslip and a primrose.

Red Clover said...

i loved the shots of your garden. I am sure it looks quite nice when everything is in bloom.

Babette Fraser Hale said...

Lovely post. I felt I could smell the earth in your garden.

Do you happen to know why birdsong in early morning seems to echo? I've heard it in France, and here in Winedale. Both places had woods and open fields. A haunting sound.