lost in woods known as '20 years mine' to me
i leant against an entirely unfamiliar tree
wondering how the hell i'd gone astray
so late in my walk, on this particular day.
and when my wellington boots turned, hello, I found
a yellow bird, right there, proudly looking up, no sound
wagging its tail 'come-hither-ly' (and strange, if ask self,
for wagtails love fringes, water, open spaces
not shady thickets, horrid hemmed-in places.)
it turned and swooped away, coy backward glance,
and so i followed suit, in an avian-train trance.
and flitting onwards, veering left and right
that robot baton and brief reiterated flight
conducted me towards that cramp relief of light.
and soon i sensed that we were nearing
a sky light in the trees, thank God, a clearing.
as i burst free, it flew away! an end that was not.
why had i been led to this particular spot?
and yes, why, on this particular day...
and then i heard my mother talk to me.
my mum, long silent, spoke. she spoke! only
a modest welcome note, the cord, but then... i knew.
that i was free, that i had been found. i was forever
safe, and never more lonely nor lost. no, not ever.
