CLEAR SCREEN OR BLANK PAPER
If I see blank paper or a clear computer screen,
Something clicks in my mind and a poem is seen.
Sometimes I think of friends and loving family,
Write about bouncing a grandchild on my knee.

Another time a mighty forest, trees close and tall,
The silence felt there, hearing no footfall at all,
See soft mossy paths never trodden on by man
And explain all the different sounds that I can.

Then more nature creeps onto the blank page,
An old country garden, with herbs like sage,
Parsley, thyme and tarragon, and flowers too,
A picket fence and a gate with a pretty view.

Another blank screen or page I may see a tree,
All alone in a field of wheat as lonely as can be.
Or an old shack with the chimney blown down,
A busy circus with animals and a funny clown.

I see another blank and then tell of God’s love,
All of the blessings that come down from above,
I see a manger with the shepherds gathered there,
See the star and I wonder how many did stare.

Show me blank paper or a clear computer screen
And maybe some new poems will soon be seen,
Just the other day, in a margin a poem I wrote down,
I did not know whether to smile or just frown.

M Ann Margetson November 29, 2001