1489
I love you is not the easiest thing to say
Even after almost 50 years
Of living cheek by jowl every day.
I love you
Should not bring doubts or unwanted fears,
For we have always travelled the same way
And while there may have been occasional tears
They brought us closer, for they did not stay
To fracture our deep unity, which towers
Above all else, and there's no need not say
I love you.
Brian Hick September 2015 (49th wedding anniversary)
©copyright Sally Hick 9.9.26
1488
30. Aug 15
The shower trickled, either hot or cold
But at extremes scalding us or freezing
So we just gave up and had a wash.
Downstairs the cold tap oozed into the kettle
And while we had enough to make the tea
We knew something was wrong.
The website did not help but on our way
To church we got into a queue which crawled
Its way round roadworks by Old Roar.
Only when walking back home from St John's
Did I see the mud, the broken pavements
And curb-stones thrown about as if
We'd had an earthquake.
By eight o'clock that evening all was well.
Emergency supplies from Asda sat
Unused, as all taps flowed free once more.
Normality resumed
But this morning, making our coffee
I gave thanks for this normality.
Brian Hick 30.8.2015
©copyright Sally Hick 7.9.2026
1487
Stones for Dancing and Stone for Dying
These stones are for dancing
Cobbled streets down to the sea
Dry stone walls across the dales
Nine Ladies and Avebury Ring
Standing stones in hidden vales.
Lights at night upon a rock
Blazing hope across the sea
Tintern, Rievaulx, Lindisfarne
Rocks of Faith eternally,
While man-made dogmas come and go
We will dance the faith we know.
These stones are for dying
Roman castles, Norman keeps,
Wartime bunkers, Martello towers,
Granite, marble, concrete, slate,
Tombstones marked with faded flowers.
Memorials in market squares
Cryptic plaques upon church walls
Alters of eternal loss
Slabs upon Cathedral floors.
While men lie beneath the stone
Love will last, and love alone.
Brian Hick August 2015
©copyright Sally Hick 5.9.26
1484
Our garden's at it's best at Lammastide.
The burst of Spring has eased itself away
The hectic Summer growth has settled down
The beds are mellow, softened at the edge,
Colours calm yet eager to entice
A drone of bees and pairs of butterflies.
The pond lies empty, even the late frogs
Have disappeared into the undergrowth.
Our daily visitors peck casually at the grain
Or sit atop the fence to bask away
Untroubled moments in the teatime sun.
Sweet peas and hollyhocks try to outshine
The runner beans, the sun flowers by the fence.
A pair of cabbage whites dance near my head
Oblivious to my presence and delight.
I sit untroubled, resting in the peace
Which, like your love, I know need never cease.
Brian Hick August 2015
©copyright Sally Hick 20.7.26
1483
A waiting room at the Eye Clinic
A child crying incessantly in A&E next door
A forty five minute delay
A silence between phone calls
A stream of names called out for treatment
A gradual emptying out
A check to see who's left
A wait
A distant voice drifting to the empty chairs
A doctor says goodnight
A cleaner empties the bins
Brian Hick August 2015
©copyright Sally Hick 10.7.26
