Keep Watch at the Window

On By Mick CanningIn poetry, writing

It’s October.

021a

That must mean it’s autumn. It certainly feels like it, now. So here’s a little poem for when the days are drawing in and it’s becoming colder and darker outside.

Keep watch at the window in the Westering light,

On the distant hill in the approaching night,

Under darkling clouds, over dew-touched heath,

Where the flowers of summer are now touched by death,

I’ll be coming home in the fading light.

 

Keep watch at the window in the fading light,

You’ll see me walking when the moon is bright,

My shadow before me coming down the hill,

My breath opaque in the air now chill,

I’ll be coming home in the last of the light.

 

Keep watch at the window in the last of the light,

When I’m weary you’ll see me come into sight,

Drawn by the firelight and the thought of wine,

By the thought of you; so glad you’re mine!

I’m home now, let’s shut out the night.

 

22 thoughts on “Keep Watch at the Window”

      1. Even the third verse. I told myself a ghost wouldn’t have a shadow or “breath opaque” and then I thought, Why not? It’s the references to fading light, flowers touched by death, etc that made me think of a ghost returning home.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  4. I think this one’s terrific, really like it. It struck me as a nice “wanderer’s return”, and I hadn’t thought of it as spooky, as Toutparmoi commented, but re-reading it, that does give it a wonderfully ghostly feel, especially if the ghost’s breath is visible in the cold air. RPT

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.