Jools and I are starting to write a song cycle on Space for the children’s choir at the Abbey. I wrote this while I was thinking about the project, and although I don’t think it will become lyrics, as we are going in a slightly different direction, I like it, so I thought it could become a poem. It makes me think irresistibly of my daughter’s partner, Luke, and their little son, Inigo, and the kind of relationship they share.
My Dad stands by me in the dark
And puts an arm around my back
To keep me warm.
To hug me warm.
Look up, he says;
Above your head..
In that black sky
Can you see light?
Small points of light
Up in the sky?
Filling the sky?
And as I look
And look and look
I see that darkness is
Not dark at all
But full of light
All full of light.
I hold his hand
His warm kind hand
I feel so dizzy standing there
As if the earth itself is air
Tipping
Under my feet
Slipping
Under my feet..
We’re not alone
We’re not alone
My dad says all those lights are worlds
Comets and stars and suns and moons
All sailing round us in the night..
And in the day
When we can’t see..
Who knows what’s there?
It’s all out there.
Perhaps one day
Perhaps one day..
I’ll fly right up and touch the stars
I’ll run along the milky way
And watch the Pleiades at play..
But for tonight
I’m safe on earth
My feet on earth
And with my Dad.
Close to my Dad…
Look up, he says;
Above your head..
In that black sky
Can you see light?
Small points of light
Up in the sky?
Filling the sky?
I can, say I.
