A Poem for Thursday..."Here a Button is Missing"...

This is my safe place.

Looking out of the old blue french windows with which we honoured the wooden hut. 

 We call it

"The summerhouse".

I miss it so much in the cold winter months.

This winter especially...with so many situations to worry about in the news...on the streets...in the world.

It takes so little to tip the balance of peace.

In families...in countries...in the soul, the heart, the spirit.

So when I read Gunter Grass's poem.."Open Wardrobe", and the little line about a lost button...

....it caught on a hook in my brain....and I thought how little it takes to tip the scales 

and unbalance our lives.

A button is missing and

I’m missing the button.

My coat can’t be shut.

The air is chilly

And I want to close my coat.

I chose a coat today

And a button is missing.

“So search the floor”, they said.

I search the floor under the coat stand.

Such a small inconvenience

And really insignificant at such a time.

But a button would close the coat

And a closed coat is protection.

The dark floor hides what it finds

Squirrels away secrets

Like magpies.

How little we need if we lose a button.

.

Geraldine Snape

March 2022

Good news...the plum tree has excelled itself with it's sweet white blossom.

Other news...the weather has changed and I can only pray that the blossom is not destroyed...

It takes so little.

Stay well.

x

…"here a button is missing"...prompt from...

"Open Wardrobe" by Gunter Grass.

.

"The Big Fight!"

Ohhhh!

Very exciting watchings in the garden at lunch time today...a big fierce fight.
...Buzzard  v  "Craws"....
...that's magpies and crows to the more informed!

I'm in the kitchen preparing a pan of soup...home made, delicious tho' I say so myself...
...the potter is next door in the studio glazing puffins...a good seller by the way...

and then the kerfuffle and the screaming of the birds... a lot of noise and beating of wings.

I had put out the seed, worms and peanuts as usual earlier. Mostly blackbirds, robins and bluetits frequent the "stall!" Oh yes and of course, those fat waddlers of the field...the wood pigeons.
But now and again the magpies will swoop in and devour the lot.
So whether the buzzard had foolishly come over at the same time as the "mags"... I'm not sure.
But one of them had the buzzard by the throat and another had it by the leg and the feathers were flying
... and we were left gobsmacked ...as they say!

The pack of crows that nest in the highest trees down the field , had gathered on the tops of the bushes nearby... crawing and jumping up and down like mad things.
The rest of the magpies who normally compete with the crows ...had joined the throng and were flying and swooping down on the fight taking place on the bird feeding stall.

I wasn't sure where to put my money. At times, the crows will beat off the little birds, and of course the magpies eat their eggs and babies....such is the reality of lovely nature...I like that in a weird sort of way. Life everywhere is tough. I would say dog eat dog ...but it's more bird eat bird!

Anyway the potter must have had his money on the buzzard...as it managed to struggle free and flew off at top speed...ahhh... beautiful bird.

Excitement over..the craws and other birds settled down again up in the tops of the trees...well that is except for the seagulls who always circle overhead on the currents coming up from the Mersey which is close by. They continued to cry with their childlike "mews". Often an unearthly sound.

Years ago when the "blessed" Tom cat was in his prime, he too had taken on the magpies.

The fight was fierce, and once again all the other magpies gathered around and swooped at him as he taunted the bird in his mouth. Again, in that instance, the magpie got away and Tom made a dash for the bushes to hide until the furore was over.

Ohhh!  what an exciting life I do live!  All back to normal now...potter in studio...me at the keys and the sun starting to shine.

Can I smell spring?  I think I can.