It feels like the first Summer
to shine on the face of Earth
strange silence in the sky
birdsong louder than engines.
Tell the swallow from the wren
wearing shorts again
falling scraping knees
nature’s old agenda.
Meeting cattle on the road
that approach like dogs
and lick our hands
with sandpaper tongues.
Somewhere a guitar playing
no doorbells ringing
heat has made me slow
cured my creation itch
Black police van in the town
doesn’t even have a station
and everyones afraid to say
what they really want to say.
Yeats could not have dreamed this year
would have made an epic poem
afraid of the invisible
distrustful of each other.
Sleep stifled by the heat
dreams all loss and grief
loved ones just borrowed
everyones a bit insane.
Grandfather built this house
Grandmother braced the walls with Art
we’ve stood for half a century
this will not bring us down.
I stood alone beside the rock
looked up at Armageddon sky
caught in eternal Summer’s spell
children laughed… and leaped.
Nothing Else Matters – Metallica – William Joseph feels the Rain
Pat Carroll,The Silence 