SEE, ON THIS SUMMER'S RIPPLE OF LOVE
See,on this summer's ripple of love
How the wind blows soft through your hair,
And the burning sands are being kissed by the waves
As you run naked without any care.
See, there's a kite and it blows on the breeze,
And that string is so still in the air:
And the noise of the crowds is like a vast song
That floats up in the heat like a prayer.
And as you play out your life in its dreams
And the world is at peace all around,
A whisper of joy controls your young limbs
As you scamper without any sound.
There, in your hour, the kite's blowing free -
Sometimes love is too strong to write down -
Ephemeral childhood, lovely to be
The jewel in this perfect days's crown.
14/5/00
I wrote this poem remembering hazy, lazy days on a beach, a child scampering in the distance, and the beauty of a kite held by a string to this earth just like a child in all its innocence seems barely attached to earth.
This poem by William Stafford shows a bleaker, painful love of a child (at least, that's how I interpreted it) - With Kit, Age Seven, At the Beach
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