I wondered why that set
Of Mediterranean sky
Was domed between these whirls of weather we get,

Why - through the jibs
Of the low oaks -  the sun-shafts
Kept digging me in the ribs,

Why I could feel
The shock of spring seas pounding against a far coast
Vibrant under my heel –

The sudden toil
Of all kinds of coming-alive things
Stirring in the soil.

What was it the breeze
Whispered
 As it soft-footed through the trees,

And tried to tell
The clumsy brook,
Clambering down the dell?

I couldn`t understand
Why the old lady, secretly,
Smiled behind her hand -

Why that squiggle
Of schoolgirls down the lane
Started to giggle.

(With the bright
Eye of every child
A twinkling festival of light)

And then the shout
At the town`s edge –
Why was everyone out -

The air
Of coming carnival
 Everywhere?

I could see
There was a joke about,
And it was on me,

By the sly
Chuckles and grins
As I went by.

Then the crush,
With me in the midst,
The sudden hush -

The cleared lane
As all fell back,
Necks a-crane.

Then I heard
A clack of heel on cobble,
Something stirred

And like a clap of thunder
The truth struck –
No more wonder.

For I knew
Who it was round the corner of the street
Would swing – like a sail round a headland - into view.

The sound of her footsteps running on before,
Pounding
At my hearts door,

Vied
With the answer – pounding from within –
I was flung wide,

Left to stand
An open city
At her command.

And so she entered in, and the metronome
Of the past, dead, wasted, time of waiting stopped,
She`s home…she`s home!