The red maple tree

I lie back in the weather-proofed green chair
To gaze up at the flowering maple tree.
I, touched by sun,lungs full of scented air
Embrace with joy such beauty around me

Old celandine show brightly by my feet
Neglected currant bushes straggle round the path
There is no birdsong yet a silence sweet
Soothes my heart and quietens my wrath.

For my heart’s sore and anguished is my mind
Yet in this little wood I feel deep calm.
My eyes are shadowed and my face is lined.
May this green spring bring me a gentle balm.

For even in depression and deep grief,
The mind makes healing medicine of a leaf