By the Horsbere Brook - in the time of the coronavirus

Yes, I remember How We Were -

blue cloudless hours

that seem like just a train ride into yesterday,

sweet meadows that grow mistier

and more glamorous by the day,

as if each recollected afternoon of journeys,

family, friends to stay, was like

the glory of late June; friends

now seen only through a glass darkly,

testing technology - back then

the heaven of face to face,

touching, breathing, blessed reality!

One blessing still remains:

this stream, so lonely, still and fair,

daily I visit; listen; look above;

hear all the birds of Gloucestershire.

Roger Turner