River of Dreams

A prose poem with a touch of Wind in the Willows
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Come, we go to a special time, to an enchanted place
Children again in the lazy sunlight of an English Edwardian summer
Wait! Leave your cares and worries behind, they have no place here
Measure your step to the river’s flow
Its rushing flight through the Malvern Hill’s is over
Trailing willow fronds now caress and sooth the ice clean water
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Rest awhile, here on the downy grass
Breathe the scent of meadowsweet and wild lavender
Stalk reeds wave their poker heads in the summer breeze
May flies in the alder haze dance away their day of life
Far away; the sound of children’s laughter drifts across the water meadows
Look; that flash of neon blue, a kingfisher on urgent business
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Dragonflies and fat honey bees dine on the yellow water iris
A Moorhen fusses over her brood of coal black offspring
In the shadow, there, under the water lilies; bronze muscled, dead eyed
The Pike watching, slashing jaws and instant oblivion
But not today, not today, on your way little ones
The sun low now over Brieley Hill bathes the tree line in rose light
We must be on our way; we have friends to meet
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Round a bend in the river our childhood chums are waiting to greet us
Water Rat, Mole and Badger welcome us with cheery smiles
We feast on honeyed ham, pear wine and sweetmeats from Samarkand,
Tales of the riverbank are told in the flickering firelight of the open hearth
And so to bed
Goose down pillows and duck feather counterpane wait to comfort you
The sickle moon high now over the Malvern’s shines through the window lattice
And on the sill Larchwing fairies gather with a passport to your dreams
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