AS light as its subject-matter, this little piece by naturalist-cleric Andrew Young catches the mood of meadows in high summer.
It comes from his Selected Poems (Carcanet).
THISTLEDOWN
Silver against blue sky
These ghosts of day float by,
Fitful, irregular,
Each one a silk-haired star,
Till from the wind's aid freed
They settle on their seed.
Not by the famished light
Of a moon-ridden night
But by clear sunny hours
Gaily these ghosts of flowers
With rise and swirl and fall
Dance to their burial.
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