EARLY SPRINGTIME IN THE CASTLE GARDENS

On a morning such as this,
A mint-fresh March morning
Of melted frost and clean, cold sunshine,
I walk out with my camera
To catch the crocuses in Castle Gardens.

Crossing the busy bridge
Where, half a millennium ago,
King Richard rode on to Bosworth Field,
I enter the little park by his statue that stands
Frozen in a last flourish of sword and crown.

And there on the green slope,
Brilliant in purple, yellow and white,
Bloom once more the brief crocuses
Beneath the site of the Siege of Leicester
And the spire of St. Martins in the clear blue sky.

I’m drawn by a palaver of gulls
On to the new bridge where someone
Is feeding a scrimmage of swans
In the shadow of the university
Apartments across the Grand Union Canal.

I turn round and notice upstream
An old woman and her white terrier
On the prow of a green barge where
She is tending window boxes whilst the dog,
With ears and tail up, stands sentry on hind legs.

Back on the park, I follow the path
Past the green pond and wooden benches
With brass plaques towards the other iron gate,
When two young men enter, talking in Adriatic accents
And suddenly, one of them breaks away twirling

Around, his arms raised in hosanna
And he exclaims, ‘What a beyoutiful garaden!
Oh Gard!’ he cries out, turning to the cathedral spire,
‘Thenk you, Gard. I larv you, Gard, so mach!’
Before reeling back to rejoin his friend.

Grown out of Wars of Roses and Civil strife,
Surrounded by business and traffic and bustle,
Near to a church, but not of it - though still, perhaps, holy,
This park is a place of peace for people to rest, read,
Eat their lunch, take pictures maybe, or make a short cut

On their way through time and space
In a blind rush - though many will always pause
And some even sing out their praises loud and clear;
And thus it is that, in joyful simplicity, the spirit lifts
On a morning such as this.

(2011)

A true little story of time, incident and place. I hope the way that I’ve represented the young man’s words in the seventh verse don’t come across as ridicule because that’s not my intention – I just wanted to capture exactly what he said and the way it sounded.