Take a stroll with me

by Doris McCartney

Walk just two minutes from my home
Leave sturdy houses, well-paved street;
And you can find another world
Of lush green grass beneath your feet.

Wend your way through blackthorn bushes
Mindful of the scratchy briars,
Till you reach a well trod path
And listen to the feathered choirs.

Over gnarled and knotted tree rootsTill your view is bathed with light.
Cross the green and past the holly
With its leaves all shining bright.

Here you'll see the reedy lakeside
Where the mallards sometimes bask.
Ancient beeches, oak and chestnuts
Acting as a shady mask.

Sometimes rabbits can be seen here
If you softly tread the path;
Little birds of varied colours
Fluttering, take a warm sand-bath.

Walking still where deer once wandered
Through the grassy sunlit glades
You will surely see a squirrel
E'er the light of daytime fades.

Deeper now into the forest
Till you reach my favourite glen.
This is filled with mighty oak trees
Older far than living men.

Soon you'll reach the dual pathways
Giving leafy summer shade.
See the differing size of hoofprints
In the soft earth daily made.

In the balmy months of summer
Cattle roam quite freely here.
And amongst the clumps of long grass
Mice and hedgehogs have no fear.

Strutting crows in total mourning
Vie with seagulls to be fed.
Magpies rise in total splendour,
Robins, blackbirds, jays and blue-tits,
Thrushes, finches, owls and larks;
Sparrows, starlings, wrens and pigeons;
All happier here than in parks.

But all good things must come to an end
And I must homeward make my way.
Glad to have communed with nature -
Please God, may I return next day?