Sometimes I like to sit in the shade,
On a park bench, watch the ducks on parade,
In a long line, smoothly swimming somewhere,
Causing hardly a ripple as they move here and there,
And gliding so gracefully, supercilious swans,
Plucking at grass from newly mown lawns,
See the flowers in bloom in yellows and reds,
Artfully arranged in bright flower beds
The bees buzzing busily as they do their day’s work,
Hear the pigeon wings flap and the little birds chirp,
With trees in the background, every size, every shape,
Their reflections outlined in the shimmering lake,
The leaves multi-coloured in orange, brown and green,
Creating a sublimely harmonious scene,
All this, and the sun’s rays caressing the ground,
Tell me it’s heaven on earth that I’ve found.

© Roderick Macdonald