Stolen
by Alex Harford
Beautiful;
This is not a dreamy delusion—
it is not a hazy hallucination.
Sun shines from blue skies
bewitchingly blemished by white-wisps;
an unimagined paradise.
Serene;
Sprinkling, splashing, dousing, washing—
nourishing water hushing,
traversing with ease, for it is free.
A smell so cool and fresh, cup your hands
and taste purity.
Air, water, flower and stone in harmony create perfection.
The Garden of Eden's far-richer relation—
flourishes of heathers and trees and grass,
Shangri-La's European cousin, but this one is real—
a green utopia of untouched elation.
Breathless;
If I wasn't below the clouds,
I'd believe this was heaven.
Boom!
Angered skies
overcome by greys.
Rain cascades—thunderstorm!
This gentle white spout
escapes its boundaries,
crashing irrigations
flooding the plain.
The falls have stolen my heart;
My heart can stay.
About this
I was at Steall Falls in Scotland and inspired by its incredible beauty...only I'd lost my pen so couldn't write those thoughts down! Luckily it stayed with me, and I wrote this poem a few days later at home. I'd written lyrics before, but this was the first time I wrote something I considered a poem.
The above version is a 2020 update (mostly cutting words), though I think the third stanza is identical to when I first wrote it.
The updated poem is included in "Poetry Before Anything" alongside a couple of other poems of mine and other members of the Newcastle-under-Lyme Stanza Group. Buy for £5 from Clayhanger Press or Amazon. :-)
Contact:
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(AT)AlexHarford.uk