standing atop
Flint Mountain
as I am now
I suppose
I should construct
clever rhymes
ironic turns of phrase
whitty inuendo
for those
that like
that sort
of thing
but no
on this sun blessed evening
after the ravages of the day
when rain had drenched me
through and through
and set a chill upon me
that drains me yet
I am a rage of emotion
as 'fore my eyes
I see not only where
my family lived
when one I had
but where their ashes
are widely scattered
in this beautiful basking sun
I see the Trough of Bowland
rising as a large fluent breast
from the ribcage of the meandering plain
where my father's family lived and farmed
and my mother's first arrived
from Ireland
decade on decades ago
yes
I could see
almost everywhere
where in my span
I lived and lost
loved and gained
on this gentlest
of rainbow spent evenings

when my brother used to cycle
I wonder
if he rested here
as I do now

07/16/2011