Something Old Something New

OLD Outside the classroom Sun cloud and tree dapple the grassy vale Aspens tremble, willows sway in graceful measures Blackbird, thrush and warbler trill a delicate scale Daisies, buttercups, cowslips scatter transient treasures Above and beyond in skies azure and white Skylarks ascend, red kites soar in cerulean And in their chosen study focus sight Gaze down upon this blest Elysian scene NEW Now Inside the classroom Dust and shadows dapple desk and board Mere echoes of live voices pulse the air The students now spread far and wide abroad Their lives confined by overbearing care But when freedom casts aside curbs as of captors Young eyes may once again be raised on high And study with the skylark and the raptors The transient blissful vista there still nigh 1 October 2021