My Green Hill

My Green Hill

This peaceful place
content in its untamed existence
A fragment of memory
a memory betrayed by reality
Barbs on the wire
a dry stone wall
Coarse wool on the barbs
The cold iron cross
where once we sang
It seems so small now
I have grown
entangled on the barbs
And the sadness inside
like an uninvited cancer
it eats away
Slowly
it destroys
Feeding on my failings
my confidence
That first line of defence
Gone
People I feel for
one by one
released from the barbs
blown free on the wind
their burdens lifted
I feel for those left behind
Alone
I cannot say what I need to say
I cannot sing what needs to be sung
But I can feel
I can remember
Here
Alone
On my green hill