5km of Hope

Hedge parsley formed  " A Guard of Honour"

On each side of the road, 

As cocooning chains were loosened,

On my 5km of hope. 

Each hedgerow was a pageant,

Of flowers I'd long forgot,

As I recalled the childhood story,

Of how God named the "forget-me- not"

Gorse, like golden jigsaw pieces,

Dotted a landscape serene,

While every field was smartly dressed,

In a coat of sparkling green.

Somewhere in the "Hollow"

I heard the cuckoo call,

And though summers chase each other,

It doesn't change at all.

From a leafy branch of a chestnut tree

Came music, pure ,sublime

As a blackbird sang for all to hear,

A song as old as time.

I heard the sound of tractors,

And children at their play,

And realised how much I'd missed

The sounds of every day.

With a lighter heart I turned for home,

My spirits much relieved,

For now I knew there's always hope,

For those that still believe.