When I heard that this year’s theme for Poetry Day Ireland was ‘There will be Time’, I thought of this poem.  ‘In Bloom’ is a poem of childhood – the stage of life when we think we have so much time, when time seems to open up before us.  For me, it opened up as a series of paths, shaded by the trees of *Clyne Gardens.  Flowers were all around me, with rhododendrums and azaleas most prevalent.  Then there was the duck pond, the streams, the Japanese Bridge, the steps up to Joy Cottage, not to mention vast stretches of sunlit grass. I lived so close to Clyne Gardens that I felt ownership of it.

It was William Graham Vivian (the millionaire of Clyne) who began the story of Clyne as we know it by purchasing ‘Clyne Castle’ in 1860.  He spent a lot of time and money on developments before the estate passed to his nephew, Algernon in 1921). Algernon (known as The Admiral), was responsible for introducing many varieties of blooms and his tastes are reflected in the famous features, such as the Admiral’s Tower and the Gazebo.

If we know anything about time, it is that we only have so much.  But youth can be misleading . . .  Happy Poetry Day Ireland, everyone!  I hope you enjoy this new poem.

Clyne Gardens is in Mayals, Swansea, South Wales

In Bloom
A Clyne Gardens Childhood

Here, I breathe in colour.

The scarlet azalea
waits in the dip,
awash with petticoats.

Undone they are trampled hearts.
Aligned they are stepping stones.

I choose to walk,
am led to the Japanese bridge,
to the handkerchief tree.

If tears grew, they would grow
on these branches.

I lean into river-song:
rush in my ears,
white in my eyes,

climb to the fairy-tale cottage,
find courage

to let my feet gather the hill:
its sky-hewn sea view
glitters with houses.

I fall, over-dazzled,
hide in the cedar tree;

canopy leaves a quieter home.

K. S. Moore

Photo by Gareth Lovering Photography on Foter.com / CC BY-ND