Leaning On A Gate Poem by Roy William Gotaas

Leaning on a gate,

Watching a long view of the downs,

Your hand and mine only inches apart:

Across time and the world we came to this point

And paused, in and out of each others lives.



The flocks of sheep drifting and merging down the slopes,

Like rain rolling down a window;

The casual geometry of the fields, the huddled trees and

Packs of clouds baying over the far skyline:

All these we beheld in common.



Yet, while time and destiny crossed tracks

And our souls swayed with the corn under a hazy sun,

We mingled no words.

As our bodies stood side by side,

The distance between our unjoined hands

Might well have been a universe:

Until you followed me down the homeward path for tea.


'In England'