[F.F. Teague]

"Thanks, John!" squeaks spirit-Tats, dear fellow 🥰

Here's another that turned out a bit F&F, lol. I composed it on Easter Monday, having been in Winchcombe on the Sunday.

Music: J.S. Bach (arr. L. Stokowski), 'Sheep May Safely Graze'


Safe

The ewes and lambs are grazing, safe, I think
and hope, in fields beside my childhood home.
Their bleating sounds content, a way to sing
at Easter, giving thanks. And now they roam

towards the small yet sturdy hazel hedge
that separates their pasture from the lane.
One mother pauses, lifts her woolly head
as if to smell the April air for rain

or watch for something circling in the skies:
a buzzard, maybe. But the sun is strong
and only peaceful pigeons saunter by,
the flock from Abbots Leys, in silver throng

above the rippling grass, the greening trees –
and then, an upturned fork. The mobile mast.
I see it poised to spear the sheep, the fields,
tune up the building band. I hear a Blast!

but that's just Dad, not demolition nor
development. His boots are tight and chafe.
A blip – we'll sort it out. The sheep graze on;
for now, at least, they’re here and they are safe.


E.F. Teague, 'F. leaning on fence'