Christina MacDonald

Christina Macdonald was born and brought up in Stornoway and has lived in Ross-shire for almost 40 years. She has been involved in writing in various genres all her adult life and has had articles and letters published in local newspapers. She had a Christmas story published in The Ross-shire Journal, a poem published in The Stornoway Gazette recently and in 2005 won first prize in an Age Concern (Scotland) short story competition.

ON THOSE DAYS OF CRYSTAL CLEAR

Christina Macdonald

On those days of crystal clear,

Senses heightened,

I can hear and see the beauty of the day.

The thrush’s song, the blackbird’s trill

The pictures of a sad world’s ill

Flee before the morning thrill

Of gardens wet with morning dew,

Tall spires of flowers in deepest blue.

My heart can soar beyond Earth’s thrall

And I rejoice again in all

That Nature gives us to enjoy.

On those days of crystal clear

The eye sees brightly, no cloud here

To blind one’s vision. Without fear

The eye can feast on vistas, far and near.

The touch of leaf and flower expands

The feel of Nature in our hands

The softness of the furry leaf

The feather-feel of waving grass

Faint brush on cheek of winds that pass.

The taste of strawberries on the plate

A drift of thyme beside the gate

The spice of pink scents all around

In evening when the sun slips down.

On those days of crystal clear

All senses blend and flow and flower

With every second, every hour

What bliss to have such days as these

When all of Nature seems to please

All our senses and our mind

What better way one’s Life to find?