The Poppies Copyright © Colin Whyles 2010

For Robert

The poppies I see now
crown whatever landscapes I choose
dress embankments sculpted
to please solely my eye
My mind's eye;
just the eye of my mind

The music I hear now
harmonises strangely to perfection
on instruments designed
to charm only my ear
My inner ear;
the ear to my soul

The conversations I have now
are with your long gone words
I make new calls
on your old answers
Give wiser replies
to distant questions

The trees I draw now
blow to a wind I provide them
East to West
North to South
perfectly pressured;
limbs akimbo

The moon that guides me now
moves to a cycle of my own making
a lunatic rhythm
riding purely on my pulse
Full when I need cheering;
New when I need hope

The time I have now
is the time of my life
no others' to share it with
no time like the present
All the time in the world;
all the world
in my time