Friday
Welsh poet W. H. Davies has a wonderful poem to usher in the month of June. Here in Appalachian Tennessee we are currently experiencing our own version of the “gold-dust” pollen that he mentions on his shoes
All in June
A week ago I had a fire
To warm my feet, my hands and face;
Cold winds, that never make a friend,
Crept in and out of every place.
Today the fields are rich in grass,
And buttercups in thousands grow;
I’ll show the world where I have been–
With gold-dust seen on either shoe.
Till to my garden back I come,
Where bumble-bees for hours and hours
Sit on their soft, fat, velvet bums,
To wriggle out of hollow flowers.
It sounds like someone else spends hours and hours sitting on his soft, fat, velvet bum. Indeed Davies, who spent years as a train-hopping hobo and then as a tramp, was famous for not letting the world’s cares get in the way of observing nature. We see this especially in his poem “Leisure”:
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare
This is a good month to pay attention to the natural beauty that surrounds us. Take time to stand and stare.