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ADrian Plass
2004.06.14. 14:12
When You Slept
By Adrian Plass
When you slept On the cushion In the boat Did you dream the walk we took You and I One autumn afternoon From that little church at Lullington Through Littlington to Alfriston Where ageless fields of flint and chalk Fall seamlessly to merge and meet With green and violet shadows That are circling and embracing The cathedral of the Downs? I was in terror of a storm that day The brown and gold and crimson Flew and fluttered round our heads Brittle messages of loss and pain and death The surging valley-side beyond us Once a way to rise I suddenly discerned Was nothing Nothing but a dumb and loveless wall So sad to see familiar beauty now a thing of ugliness I dropped my gaze And then you spoke the word A firm command Into the centre of the raging storm And when, on sensing stillness At last I raised my eyes I saw with grateful wonder That the splendour had returned |
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