Timeless Oxford Poem by Neil Stewart McLeod

I stood by the bridge
Gazing down at the greens
Of the trees on the banks
At the union of streams.

Through mossed balustrade
Reflected I'd spy
The spires of Magdalen
In watery sky.

Leaves on the water
Red, yellow and gold
By unseen currents,
The near banks hold.

Bright against grey
In light autumn shower
A shimmering halo
Above the stone tower.

Wide wavelets circling
The still picture flows
A fast spreading mask
Where the hidden fish rose.

By the far bank
The ripple passes
Halting the gaze
Of hanging grasses.

Thinned willow and elm
Where pigeons coo,
As in the past
They forever will do.

Now Michaelmas comes,
New faces appear,
But Oxford unchanged
Will greet the new year.