This time I nearly didn't know you, Gaia,
elegant dancer; slow smiler
the children, of course, they knew you from the start,
knew you and loved you -
there's no fooling them
their grief was boundless and eloquent
as an Irish lake beneath a wind-swept sky
saying goodbye.
That blackbird singing in the garden in the spring
(was that you?)
she it was started the process of re-birth
livened my mind again
I should have been expecting you
but knew you only in
your going back into your earth.
Fooled again!
I'll never know you perfectly, Gaia
(elegant dancer; eloquent slow smiler)
But draw some comfort fleetingly
from knowing where you've been.
I remember when I heard this poem for the first time, recited by the bard himself, on an early whiskey misted morning in a cabin battered by a North Sea wind. It rang true then and it still rings true tonight in a snow covered Zürich. Well done Hugh. It resonates.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Very nice to read.. very original style... touching...