No Space for Peace

You come for the sun

Then hide in the shade

Trying to imagine

The world’s gone away

But wherever you hide

There’s no true escape

For clarity comes

Awareness takes shape

Then every yell and every bark

Seem louder than before

And no amount of ignorance

Can help you close the door.

Sun Chaser

There you are.

I’ve been looking for you.

You’ve evaded me

Teased and taunted me

With brief flashes through the canopy.

Dancing on the water

But never resting on me

And now you’re here

I shy away

Your warmth caresses me

But your light blinds

So I cannot stay

I move out of your glare

Admiring you from a safe distance

But the search wasn’t for nothing

That brief moment in your heated gaze

Filled me with a warmth to outlast winter

If I could only keep a hold.

Hidden in Milton

We think that it’s peaceful here.

That nature is pure serenity.

But just as in our own lives

So much is unseen, unheard.

And even if there weren’t that sweet song

If the ducks ceased to fight

If the fish no longer caused ripples

If the birds ended their aerial displays

Still there would be no peace

The outside world always intrudes

The endless purr of the motorway

The shrieks of children

The whispered conversation of lovers

But this is as close as we can get

So we cherish it

And call on our legendary ignorance

We insist each shrill note, sudden splash

Is the sound of peace

And we try with all our being to believe it.