31. Alone

Unashamed in its isolation

the sentinel sentry

guards the village boundary.

Yews grow at its side

manning the graves,

privates on the parade ground

attending at attention.

In the quiet, before the trumpet sounds,

all is at peace.

30. Shell

On a reluctant shoreline

the discarded shell

rusts into oblivion.

abandoned by its soul.

Shipwrecked by age

it creaks and whines its goodbyes

to an ignoring wind

and sinks

below the weeds of time.

.

29. Pieces of eight

tree stump mathematics

nought plus nought

equals eight

a home for beetle and bug

and the imaginations

of children

sliced tree

stumped for the moment

28. Turning to the sun

We do not hide in shadow

our petalled finery;

we do not skulk in corners

but shout that we are free.

And all who seek for beauty

see how wondrous that we are

in white and yellow galaxies

outshining nightly stars.

27. The wind creeps

The wind creeps,

its wormy meander

out-battles brick and stone,

whittling faces into their faces

and character into their wasted defiance.

26. Closing in

A drizzling curtain

draws darkness across the day

a vanishing point.

25. Family

This is a huddle

this cuddle of ours

and woe betide

those outside

our conglomerated

glowers.