One Day, Pre’vert

One day

he walked in a park

and the first sight

was a board of Bylaws

the times: of open and close

and the sight of this

and suddenly smelling the flowers...

When he was young

he read the Iliad and the Odyssey

borrowed from the library

carried them home through the park

past flower beds, tennis courts

through a long leafy tunnel of trees

sycamore trees

Meeting Miriam and her friends

who knowing no history

seemed so much younger than he

And did not Helen tease warriors...

and so on through the seasons

until one day

finding himself alone

like a thrush on a lawn

hearing the earth move

and if ever you too

should find yourself alone

hearing the earth move

do not move too quickly

towards Helen, or Miriam

if you see them nearby

Do not dissolve the moment in motion.

Dick Russell

Published in ORBIS 153, UK

Editor Carole Baldock