Pictures from Holland

One ragged scarecrow alone in a field
Waves to the train which is gathering speed.

Two long-billed storks perched on a rooftop
Stand on one leg and bask in the sun.

Three whitewashed windmills turn in the wind,
Pumping the water or grinding the corn.

Four painted barges in nose-to-tail line
Follow their leader along the canal.

Five white ponies in a buttercup field
Scamper away at the sight of the train.

Six mottled cows at the red stable door
Wait to be milked at the end of the day.

Seven bells chiming high in the steeple,
Telling the time to the people below.

Eight wooden clogs on eight pretty feet
Dance on the cobbles beside the canal.

Nine fishing boats tied up at the quay
And fishermen drying their nets in the sun.

Ten children of Holland cycling to school
Wait by the bridge for the train to go by.

Arrival from Bombay

Schooner off silhouette

And in and out among the flecks of foam
White sea-birds rose and fell upon the wind,
No different from the moving curves of spray
Until into the sky they rose and stayed
And joined the flocks which flew beside the ship,
All drawn along and upward in our wake.
Upon the starboard bow the distance broke
And there between the ocean and the sky
The land appeared, its highest peak concealed
By cloudy streamers, ribbons of the wind,
Its earthbase anchored in the purple depths
Among the corals and the waving weeds.

Our arrival in Seychelles by sea from Bombay,
After a journey of five days, July 1968

Envoi

When finally the boatman comes
To ferry me across the Styx,
Don’t stay to wave me out of sight
But turn again to living things.
Turn back towards the healing sun
And in some patch of cherished earth
Scatter a wilderness of phlox,
Of lilac, foxgloves, hollyhocks,
That from my shore, with straining eyes,
I see their spires of blossoms rise
And catch upon a straying wind
The fragrance of their scent and yours.
 
November 1989