Come Change a Ring

Links, foreshadowed in the churchyard,
Headstone material ancient and strong.
How intimately the village gathers,
So slight a community, to catch the fire,
Daubed with desire on the framework,
Catches of one kind or another to be found.

Here is the meeting of salt and fresh themes,
One sea from two rivers combined,
To see each other through every crossing.
Links in the nets crossed over, as reef knots.
That proposal that lit a summer day forever by a cottage,
Light flashing off the sea in waves.

Commitment to fear and trembling
Each time the storm lashes the deck,
That frantic wrestling with nature.
Caught in each other’s nets for now,
No need to struggle beyond building a home,
Round and round the unending circles.

Rising, stepping past the graves by the church door,
Unconfined happiness of song in the air.