Simple Things (Just Ten Years Old) Poem by Pat Royce

Down by the little stream
I sat and wondered in a dream
My heart alight my mind a-daze
Warm as toast in sweet malaise
I dreamed of Minnow Shrimp and Newts
They all swam through the Hawthorne roots
Of Dragonfly in emerald green
Flitting down the magic stream

As Buttercups pretty with yellow crowns
Danced to-the-breeze in there leafy gowns
A Primrose hid beneath the hedge
Where Blackberries bloomed above the sedge
Foxgloves swayed there bells were ringing
Daises danced I heard them singing
As Ragged robins joined the throng
Buy the bank they grew along

I listened alone to the Skylarks twitter
A Bullfinch sing his down aglitter
Then a Cuckoo cried I have a date
Well the Pigeons cooed We’ve got a mate
Rooks a-squabbled in the Rookery trees
Swift Swallows screeched and Ripped the breeze
But Songbirds called and charmed that day
So I just sat and dreamed away

As in the flow a bobbing stick
Raced on through the sluice of brick
The Stream a-gurgled with bubble and sud
Where the Watercress grew and covered the mud
Some Moles were Humping up there hills
And I though I scented Daffodils
But best of all the Russet Fox
In his shiny coat and velvet locks

I dreamed about the zest of love
Sweet happiness from god above
Of Hazels full with Sparrows song
And Lofty Elms So grand and strong
Of Barley blushed with Poppies red
As Meadowsweet with Milkmaids wed
While there amid the ears of corn
A Field Mouse tarried that sunny morn

And the Stream a-whispered to the land
Kissed the bank and golden sand
As a Rose aroma full and Fay
Touched this heart that summers day
There all about so full of joy
Just ten years old this little boy
He pondered life and what it was
O’ hell I though it’s just because

And still the stream streams on to where she’s going
Where that is there is no knowing
So sit awhile at a brook or stream
Give yourself the time to dream
Give yourself the time to stare
See the joy it’s always there
Try to be that little kid
Missing nothing nothing hid

Life’s a breeze so live it now
Tomorrow’s just a wishing-well
Times of soul and times of sorrow
Live it all now not tomorrow
Happy be a superstar
The special person that you are
Fill your time with love and care
For every day’s an answered prayer