Hugh Mitchell Poems

No fish-merchant at the street's end now
'Palamut, palamut' no more
even the simit-seller walks on silent feet
the snow descends in feathered lumps
...

Good morning Mr Magpie
alone again, like me
I greet you then I bless myself
and hope that I shall see
...

This time I nearly didn't know you, Gaia,
elegant dancer; slow smiler
the children, of course, they knew you from the start,
knew you and loved you -
...

The germ of an idea came to me
Watching a botanist on my TV
He said a species could be recognized
as great by how much world it colonized
...

Down at the bottom of the world
amongst the snow and sleet
stands a lonely Emperor penguin
with an egg upon his feet.
...

A pair of herons flying from a ditch
wheeled low and elegant over the road
one flew too low - a sudden car
ended her gracious flight
...

Last night I had a dream of Ireland's Eye
wind-ruffled island of my childhood hour
- waves, restless seaweed, cliffs and gull-filled sky
the ruined church, the ever-watchful tower.
...

Dripping in rain at the year's end
an elegant old town - too large for those who've settled here
they move in dreams over the scrubby grass
pushing through memories along the square.
...

This was a man - small man, Dutch man; small in a land of giants
a man who earned respect from all
This was a man who said,
'I may not live to see my birthday - let's hold the party early! '
...

Last winter - did we have snow?
Don't really know
I suppose so.
One year, I know
...