Summer Afternoon

Summer Afternoon

The Two Most Beautiful Words In The English Language

The weather forecasters have promised rain again
from tomorrow onwards but we are granted
one gorgeously soft and delicate day
before the grey mists
and lowering clouds engulf us.
Staying indoors on a day like today
would be sacrilege.

As Benno and I leave the house
I notice a Peacock butterfly on the path
leading from the garden to the lane
which is also basking
in the warm sunshine.
Make the most of it, it isn't going to last.

Even the gravestones in the Churchyard
are feeling kindly disposed towards each other
on a day like this.
I wonder if the occupants were friends
during their life times?
The stones appear to be of a similar age.

Children are playing by the river,
under the watchful eye of parents.
In spite of the lack of sunshine since June
we have had very little rain
and there's hardly enough water in the river
to drown a gnat.

We are now leaving the village itself
and climbing up the hill into the field
where the new foal doesn't seem to know quite
what to do with all this big beautiful world.

The harvest is by no means all in.
A week of rain will delay it further
and cause problems for the farmers.

Valley's End is surrounded
by an amphitheatre of hills,
it almost gathers you in.
It is possible to circle the village from above,
looking down on it's roofs.
Gravity alone will get you back to the centre
where the ancient packhorse bridge crosses the river,
which runs through the middle.

Friko

Posted over on her site Friko's Musings

Written as prose by Friko--line breaks by Glenn Buttkus