That I thought of these places
In this morning’s
Flower Fresh Meditation
Says something to me
About all of those spaces
Where previously I have found shelter
For the first pair of descriptive phrases:
As I breathe in I see myself as a flower
As I breathe out I feel fresh
I was most definitely on the road
Outside Madhyamaka
Looking happily across the fields
Towards the orange light in the tree
For the following pair of phrases
As I breathe in I see myself as a mountain
As I breathe out I feel solid
I was equally certain about being in Grasmere
Walking mindfully back down
From seeing Sour Milk Gill
As I admired the matchstick men
On the mountain tops
For the next pair of phrases which went
As I breathe in I see myself as still water
As I breathe out I reflect on all that is
I was more uncertain
First I saw a sea, then a river
Finally I settled on a pond
Or did I see anything at all
For the final pair of phrases, which said
As I breathe in I see myself as space
As I breathe out I feel free
I was everywhere which cries out open air
Although eventually, and more particularly
I was on the salt-marshes beyond Saltfleetby
Of course other open spaces came to mind
Hadn’t we recently visited
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
And how could the pond at Emerson
With its lotus leaves
Ever be forgotten
Also the clay contained water at Sissinghurst
How could that not
Be brought into the equation
And once on that trail of memories
What about Chagall’s
Stain glass windows at Tudeley
Or the speedboat ride back to the airport
From the wonderful weekend in Venice
Where the hemmed in shelter of grandeur
Enabled everyone to feel at ease
