The writer looks forward to spring – and back to a vision of eleganceIt’s been a sweet summer,but winter is definitely now arriving, and for me the cold is a threat. My leukaemia doesn’t intellect it, and but my base chest hates it. Short already of breath and energy,I might hurry out of both before the spring. But in spring my Collected Poems will be coming out, and thats a book that I would like to hold. So I look out into the garden with anticipation as well as apprehension. My Japanese maple tree is now in its first flames. Last year I saw the transformation as a sign of the end. Now I prefer to see it as a portent of spring.
Each glimpse of the tree reminds me of a beautiful Italian word my future wife taught me 50 years ago in Florence. The word was scorcio (say “score-cho”). It means a glimpse. From one of our coffee bars we could look down a narrow street and see the spire of the abbey-church of the Badia outlined against the sky. The spire was a revelation of elegance, or as my tree is now. Looking back,you realise that glimpses are all you ever bag. There is so limited time.
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Source: theguardian.com