The
Brightest Star
~~~
By far
the brightest star that shines
throughout this world we share,
Lies in nature's living harmony whose
birthright we all are heir,
In all the so called simple things
that around us constant lie,
In the blowing of an Autumn leaf
in the threads that seasons tie.
Eric
Booth Moodycliffe - 2007
Back to top of page
The
Solway
~~~
Have you
seen the Solway by moonlight
as the waves go running by,
Here a patch of moonlit water,
there a glimpse of mystic sky,
Have you heard the wild birds calling
yet so warm and yet so cold,
I'm the haunted land that bore you
come to me when you are old.
Do you
see the land around you
sweeping up to Criffel's range,
All unchanged and all unchanging,
yet so very old and strange,
Did you hear this land a calling
when you were young and bold,
I'm the haunted land that bore you
come to me when you are old.
Through
the years of boyhood growing,
time she swiftly sped,
When I heard that land a calling
when my soul she fed,
You have seen the seas and cities,
all seems done and all seems told,
I'm the haunted land that bore you
come to me when you are old.
Eric
Booth Moodycliffe
Back to top of page
The
Old Man of Charters Towers
~~~
With the
fire of youth in their loins
and the space of eternity which only they own,
With eyes that see only their pleasures
they missed the old man shuffling by.
They
missed the faraway look in his eyes,
with the juice in his bones all drying
and the back sorely bent from the years,
With eternity pressing so closely
they missed the old man passing by.
If
closely they looked in the back of his eyes
a flicker burned dimly still there,
For they looked on the times when gold was first mined
in the days of the Towers long ago.
They
looked on the times his own youth was
sublime with rich blood fairly racing his veins,
When girls heads turned as vigour in him burned,
they looked on the times of the Towers long ago.
Eric
Booth Moodycliffe - 1997
(Charters Towers is a gold mining town in
Northern Queensland, Australia)
Back to top of page
Criffel over the Nith
~~~
Around this great wide
world two times I've been,
Yet lovlier sight I've never seen
Than Nith's sweet flow framed by Criffel's
Gentle curves so true, so smooth, so clean,
Whose colours change from moment to moment,
Hour to hour, and day to day,
To weave a magic spell on this her native son
With unseen ties which bind so deep
That they could sunder eternity's sleep.
Eric Booth Moodycliffe -
1996
(At the seat a mile past
Glencaple)
Back to top
of page
Time
~~~
Time steals that which one
would forever hold,
As we must follow in the wake of his insidious path,
Direction lending not his ear for us to hear,
borne along on that never ending tide,
As flotsum on the wave to that unknown shore,
And in our countenance with no reward he takes his toll,
As the minutes turn to hours and hours to days,
So the knowledge comes that here I cannot stay,
And when comes that final day when I must anon,
Then surely will I free these chains which bind me to
My mortal bed.
Eric Booth Moodycliffe -
1970
Back to top
of page
How
much do we see
~~~
Rational we are supposed
to be,
But how much do we really see,
I don't speak of the eye that's moulded by want,
I don't speak of the eye that's moulded by care,
Nor of the eye implanted by culture like hair,
I speak of the eye that sees beauty everywhere,
Even in a stark tree, that long has turned bare,
I speak of the eye that sees when the mind has stopped.
Eric Booth Moodycliffe
- 1982
Back to top
of page
Closeburn Castle
~~~
Proud she stands amidst
her history,
In these lovely Dumfries borderlands,
The lodge gate a drive through fields of green,
A sudden bend then through the trees,
Along a driveway sweet, solidly, squarely,
Sentinel she stands,
Amidst these haunting border lands.
These walls so old if time
could tell,
Steal up the drive with binding spell,
The battlements which now empty stand,
Silent witness to many warring clans,
Bare windows with their ancient stare,
Await the long lost trumpet blare.
Eric Booth Moodycliffe -
2007
Back to top
of page
© Copyright Eric
Moodycliffe 2006 - all rights reserved |
