Haze of sound     indirection     the hum of insects on all sides everywhere

this world is all around

and things that dart and stop in the air     as if arrested

Way or way through

A soft background noise     a constant rustle or hiss     which could almost be in the ear     were it not there

rain falling     unhurriedly steadily

and that picks up sometimes     indirection      grows louder stronger more insistent     indirection     as
if to emphasize a point

And when I go back it is still the same

the small gate that leads where it leads     indirection     the trees overspread like hands
like gestures of a kind

making my way past the cherry the show-currant     indirection     the pale salmon- coloured flower of the quince     indirection     barbed and delicate

through things that need culling     indirection     down to the bottom of the garden

Place or places

These tiny harbours wooden jetties     indirection     with the houses set back a little from
the shore     indirection     half-hidden private     indirection     each in its own patch      indirection     enclosed
surrounded by trees

small boats tied up neatly     indirection     oars shipped     indirection     masts stepped     indirection     everything in
its place

and nothing that you could call a hill     indirection     the occasional outcrop     indirection     granite
reminder

And lying against you it could almost be     indirection     part of a tree that I had settled
upon

its long limbs and branches     indirection     comfortable forks     indirection     the roundedness

or even a rock whose contours seem to fit     indirection     and about which one cannot
quite decide     indirection     whether it is hard or soft

All this is thought     indirection     all this is what is thought

These surfaces     indirection     glinting glistening after the rain     indirection     that has left them
moist reflective     indirection     light-harbouring

fragile with drops

and the sky clear once more again     indirection     innocently blue     indirection     sun redeeming
everything

movements and sounds renewed     indirection     a bird singing in the high branches its song trickling down

Mist lying in low places     indirection     up the backs of valleys     indirection     and down by the
river where the trees cluster     indirection     floating almost suspended

a yellowish tinge to the sun     indirection     jaundiced unhealthy     indirection     not quite round
church bells in the distance

and a new ambiguity complexity     indirection     the sense of things no longer being
quite straightforward     indirection     some complication entering in

the air moist unclear     indirection     doing things to sound

This long stare     indirection     this one-sided conversation

Remoter things quiescence of distance     indirection     low ridges     indirection     smoke far off
suggestions of a small town nestling in a hollow

but nothing to hand no foreground to speak of     indirection     only further away
between some clusters of trees

the flat sheen of a river     indirection     like something imagined     indirection     or seen in a painting

and the clouds moving so slowly that one catches oneself thinking     indirection     are
they moving at all

A small local wind     indirection     a light breeze an air     indirection     which lifts the branches
stirring them agitating them

slowly     indirection     like the wings of a great clothed bird

and the sense of hope of imminence     indirection     as if something were about to
happen to come to pass

of which this breath was only the precursor the messenger

This lying together     indirection     when sometimes I imagine

that we are walking hand in hand     indirection     down a long country road     indirection     deep in
shadow     indirection     talking