Leap Day

Leap Day

Five and twenty past the hour

on a non-existent day

without a season.

An early evening rainstorm

chases molten silver mullions

down each westward-facing window.

For a while I watch it claw

the warp and weft of beaded gauze

blinding a scenery of tarmac, concrete, cloud.

There are landscapes in the rainlight:

glassy worlds meander

in a random stream,

encircle tumuli and earthworks

of a long-forgotten past;

snail trails

becoming frosted footpaths

over empty, unlit hills

from which a people with our faces

traced the swathes of ancient stars,

augurs of when to sow and reap.

I cannot wrap myself in their dreams,

only recognise and keep

a thread of memory

to make this weave complete.

©Deborah Harvey 2011

My poetry collection, 'Communion', published by Indigo Dreams, £6.99 is available from the Indigo Dreams website, Amazon, W H Smith on line and all good independent bookshops.  A selection of my poems are available to read here.