Beauty on the doorstep

It's been a while since I wrote any poetry. 

But on Sunday, I went out for a long walk along the canal. It was the end of what had been a genuinely lovely but very busy week; and I'd spent far two much of the previous couple of days looking at local election coverage. I was really feeling the need to get outside and stretch my legs with more than just a walk to the end of the road to the tram stop.

I live in inner city Birmingham and looking out of the window (or more commonly, at a computer or phone screen) it can be easy to forget that within a few minutes of my house, I can be walking in what feels almost like countryside. 

It helped, obviously, that it was a  beautiful, warm spring day. But I was also reminded how much of what we see is about conscious choice. Ugliness and beauty will always co-exist. We can't, necessarily make the ugliness go away, nor can we, or maybe even should we, always ignore it: but we can choose to prioritise where we focus our eyes.

This poem was the result of that walk and those reflections.

---

Sometimes,
Caught up in the doom-scrolling,
In watching the mudslinging,
I forget

Just how much beauty

Can be found  
Within a stone's throw of my doorstep.

Fluffy white clouds in a bright blue sky,

Dappled sunlight dancing in the breeze,

The pure delight of children 

Giggling at some private joke.

The delicate veins of a butterfly's wing,

The studied stillness of a heron,

A family of goslings learning to swim

Under the watchful eye of two protective parents.

Deep-hued copper beech leaves,
One single fragile red poppy,
The glory of spring blossom

Telling stories of the abundance of nature.

A strip of green, stretching to the horizon,

Patterns of light reflected in ripples,

And dandelions waiting 

For wishes to be told.

And yes,
It is important to remember
That not everything in the world is beautiful;
But it is important to remember
The beauty too

And to remember

That sometimes
We need to step outside

And see it.