Monday's Muse

A few weeks ago in June, the Site Festival came to Stroud and filled many a previously-empty shop with art and words. One such shop was at the bottom of our street and housed for some weeks, poetry and stories written by locals. I found a gem of a poetry book called 'Ten Sonnets' by Jo Bousfield and one poem in particular resonated with me...

to Stroud

It's not simply the folding hills which lie

Calm around the town with vantage points

Where I can walk and gaze and point and sigh

And know each field and path, how each one counts.

Its River Severn, boundary to my thought,

The sky at night with stars accessible,

Decayed canals in which the moon is caught,

And surge of people, irrepressible.

There is a certain something in the voice

A subtle understanding of sublime

An overview that has to do with choice

To inhabit this dear place, at this one time.

I told a stranger that I lived in Stroud

I whispered softly but my heart was loud.