Reflections beside a canal

I
Broad canal reflecting
Flat, grey clouds
Unveiling blue
As the day presses through

Cropped reeds and grass,
Ragged with new growth,
Send forth early morning
Forays of mallard pairs

Over the fields trees stand,
Regimented, dense, green
A steeple points heavenward,
Reflecting Man's desire

Upstream the water foams itself
Over the weir, steady,
Not even rippling the surface;
A heron skims over

Above the bridge
The sky, pink-silver,
Heralds the approaching sun

II

The glistening sun moves upstream
On the back of ripples,
Pushed on relentlessly
By the insistence of the wind

Gusts flutter the remaining stillness,
Mottling the drab, olive surface,
Sprinkling brilliant drops
Of reflected light

Small waves beat, frustrated,
At the intrusion of the jetty;
Echoes of the sea, but powerless,
Whispering away only the softest sand

In its lee, water bugs revel in the
Placid surrender of the flow,
Only to be scattered by marauding ducklings,
Eager to share the same space,
Adding to the shimmering motion

III

Distant church bells ringing the hour
Muted by the morning mist.
Passing trains betray
The pastoral silence

Circles of broken shadow
Reveal the fish-presence;
Duck wakes form V's
On the surface

Green fields are
Startled by fleeing rabbits;
Dark cows re-shape the
Monotonous edge

Last evening's rain chills the wind,
Even now raising the ripples,
Moving them upstream,
Dragging the mist into lavender-grey distance

IV

Rusted corpse of a wagon
Resting beside the tree-lined path,
Like a picnic long forgotten

Watching the lazy water,
A lone wooden bench,
Deep in thought
Of yesterday's view

Dandelions, tumbling in the field,
Frolic at the water’s edge

A curtain of fine, silver rain,
Gently blowing in,
Closes out the brightness