Two poems inspired by Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. And by a pair of blackbirds that have been constant companions in the garden during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Blackbird (Innocence)
Oh, little friend, as dark as night
that brings the sunlight to my day.
Do you see me as I see you?
A beacon in a sky of grey.
Your mark your path with hops and skips
and sing with joy at dawn's slow rise;
your feet are bathed in glist'ning dew,
bright circles frame your pitch black eyes.
Your constant presence stretches time
as though God sent you as my guide;
where is the fear, when you are here?
there is but calm and peace inside.
Blackbird (Experience)
He's here again, as dark as night,
perched, sentry-like, upon my fence.
I see him, bringing clouds of rain
and opiates to dull my sense.
He now takes flight, an angel black,
and lands on grass that withers brown.
He pulls a worm, rips it apart,
opens his throat and gulps it down.
In empty circled eyes I see
no pity for a creature's life.
Yet creeps behind the sly striped cat
with claws as sharp as any knife.
Tim Fellows July 2020
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