There’s a magic on the house
When the babies are asleep,
When they’re tightly bundled up
In the depths of downy deep,
When through all the hours of night
From the bedroom door ajar
Comes their steady sound of breathing,
Like a murmuring from afar
Of the sea within a shell
From some distant coral bar.
Tag Archives: children
Evensong
At night when lights within the house turned high
Shine out in answer to the starlit sky,
I go outside to close the shutters tight
Against the rigours of the winter’s night.
I lift each hook and push the shutter to,
Catching a gentle vision as I do,
Behind the panes, of faces that I love,
My whole world’s gift and sacred treasure trove,
Each unaware within his frame of light
Of causing me, the watcher, such delight.
Then am I moved profoundly as I see
How blessed fortune has so favoured me.
(finished in Erasmus Hospital, Brussels 8.2.89)
The Invitation
Please put my hair in bunches
With ribbons red and blue,
I’m going to a party
Which starts at half past two.
It’s my friend Anna’s birthday,
She’s nine years old today;
I’ll wrap her present nicely
And then be on my way.
I had a letter from her
Which said, “Please come to tea.“
We’ll play Let’s pass the parcel,
The winner may be me!
So tie my hair in bunches
With ribbons red and blue,
I’m off to Anna’s party
Which starts at half past two.
For Lucy, July 1980.
I have a homing instinct for the stars 