Poems

HOLY WELL

In summer’s shadow
he led me
through damp and dappled ancient woods
beside the holy lake:
down time-worn, mossy paths
we talked of childhood,
children, life,
self-sacrifice and sorrows –
tangled thickets of our pasts
and presents.

I have found peace and revelation
in sharing wild, green secret places:
a deep calm fell
and something close to joy
washed over me –
a migrant bird could settle here.

As I leant down to the living pool
I wondered just how many hands
had cupped into this sacred spring
to quench a thirst:

In the silence 
sprung between us
I drank
and wished us well.