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Two Gardens
written in Findhorn on the weekend of July 10th 2009
1.
There's a gazelle in the garden
The rose garden
Hidden away behind the house.
I glimpse her passing from a narrow window:
Alert and rapid, a graceful nervous lissom gait
Her long limbs brushing scented bushes,
Laying an ephemeral lavender trail
She stands still for one moment
Warily scanning the morning air
Uneasy amidst a litter of petals
The downpour has stripped from a cinnamon rose
Her eyes flick alarmed to neighbouring casements
She backs into a corner where none overlook
Proud head held high, her neck tensing sinew.
Stiff legged, heart coiled, she is ready now
For instant flight
Or defensive submission to a lion's bite.
How I long to call out,
Reach out, something, to soothe her
To lengthen her dalliance in this careful place
But banish the thought, well aware if I did
I would lose all that beauty, that glory of grace
To a flurry of limbs and a vanishing tail.
2.
There's a finger of wind in the garden
The Harbour Garden
Safely sheltering behind stone walls.
Out here, adjacent, baffled by their strength,
The wondering wind plays freely:
Caressing, teasing,
Gently lifts one tress
Of her Botticelli hair
Then
Finding it pleasing
Fans
Her full glory skywards
With one sharp breath.
Suddenly changing tack
It urgently lifts, balloons,
The hem of her dress
The better to explore
To relish
To cherish
The beauty that she brings
To all of us
She breathes on,
Beaming, with her love
A faint taste of salt-spray
On her
Parting lips.
© John Mackie, Findhorn and Spey Bay, July 2009
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