Green Unfurling Fern Frond Poem by Mark Heathcote

Imagine the world without any feathers
without an angel—wing-in-tether
what would be the calling of a thing?
Like a Turtledove, without a ring.

Imagine this world without a marriage
what needs, then us, of a horse and carriage?
The Hurst has been forever busy, as a bee
who'd want to buttonhole a flower upon me?

Imagine the world without any magic spells
what child would throw pennies downs the well?
Love is but a ripple on a millpond
and time a green unfurling fern-frond.