The Spring is collecting
Yellow pieces
Yellow pieces
The Spring is collecting
Yellow pieces
Yellow pieces
I had a song in my head
I could not identify the tune
That morning when walking towards the railway station
I found a rabbit in a distressed state
The creature was confused but was not alarmed by the passing travellers
I suspected that it was suffering from Myxomatosis
Like others I passed on the opposite side of the road
I thought of the rabbit during my lecture that morning
An unnamed councillor of Edwin’s had arrived early
What shall I do if I have a tune in my head
Without the original words
There is not much you can do
One day you will identify the tune
The councillor started his lecture
My words suggest only too tragically the pagan longing for something more certain more fitting by which to measure the human aspiration and hope
Our time on earth is but short when counted against the fuller years
Time is unknown before our birth and time is unknown after we die
I was thinking of the rabbit
What was its conception of its own mortality?
Was it indeed now dead?
Should I have picked it up and placed it in the long grass?
A fox had probably ended its life
Was the fox aware that it was ending a life as it bit the rabbit’s throat?
Was the fox aware that the animal was diseased?
I was one sitting at a banquet with your ealdormen and thanes
It was winter and the weather was harsh
But the hall was warm and there were fires burning
I was drinking a fine wine when I noticed a sparrow flying through the hall
It came in by one door and left by the other
During its time in the hall it was not touched by the bitter weather outside and experienced moments of quiet and warmth and love
But as it had entered it soon left
It returned the cold as it had left the cold
I felt that God had spoken to me that day
So mortal life seems to be but a short interval
A summer between two winters
The sparrow experienced a short rest
The sparrow experienced life if you will
This teaching brought me a greater certainty
If seems fitting that I share this with you here today
I looked around the lecture theatre
There were no small birds flying between the doors
I looked up at the window that faced me
A rabbit possibly the rabbit I had seen was playing with a Dixie Band
Jazz Jazz Jazz
I whispered to the student next to me
Do you like Jazz?
The boy did not answer me as he was profoundly deaf
The rabbits were wearing red waistcoats
The weather was harsh
But their music was light
I tapped my foot to its beat
And then remembered my music
The tune that I had forgotten
The Spring is collecting
Yellow pieces
Yellow pieces
The Spring is collecting
Yellow pieces
Life just ceases
Life just ceases
The rabbit’s music had stopped
The whole of the Dixie Band were looking at me
As was the councillor
You have identified the tune
No I still have little idea of the original song
A sparrow flew across the lecture theatre
See the Robin
It is enjoying its short life
Just like a Mayfly
It perched in front of me and spoke quietly
During the day of the dreams
You will be severed from your maker
For a week and a day
Take care of your bright treasures
For they contain the souls of the righteous
The fiends have already been sent to their destruction
Do not worry Superman
For your exile will be swathed in love
No sorrows will befall you
Youth is without age
But I have no need to tell you that
You have been aware of that since your days in the crib
The small bird flew away and vanished through the far door
The Dixie Band started playing again
After thanking the councillor I left the campus
I found the rabbit dead near where I had seen it previously
It had been savaged by a fox
Which also lay dead
Not far away
It had been hit by a train
The Spring is collecting
Yellow pieces
Yellow pieces
The Spring is collecting
Yellow pieces
Life just ceases
Life just ceases
I had identified the tune
I was walking with its creator
A friendship was developing