Sleep Charm

Mistily my sleep comes down

(What now of the brilliant sea)

Mistily the silken brown

Quiet darkness covers me

 

Quietly my sleep draws near

(What now of the winds long flight)

Quietly it comes the solemn clear

Nothingness of my night

 

Muriel was sitting on the old settee in the garden watching the express trains thunder by

That is such a sad poem

Did you write it?

No it was written over ninety years ago in 1924

Jackie looked at the ragged settee and pushed her slim fingers into a gap between the arm and the headrest

Really we must dispose of this settee it is most likely full of insects

Possibly but for a few weeks every summer the sun dries it out and it is one of the great pleasures of my life to sit on it either reading or watching the express trains pass by

Let us burn it when the autumn arrives

Whatever for

Just bring a blanket out like the rest of us you will get just as brown

I not sit on it to achieve a tan

I sit here so that I may contemplate life

What was the name of the poet?

Hazel Hall

I have never heard of her

Not many people have

I had not heard of her before I purchased the book that I am now reading

What is the book called?

The Best Poems of 1924

Whatever made you buy it you do not write poetry

I do write poetry but I choose to keep it private

May I look at it?

Perhaps one day when I am more confident

What do you write about?

 Everything  

Do you write like Hazel Hall

No but I would like to have possessed a fraction of her talent

Did she write anything else

Most likely but I am only aware of the poems which can be found in this book

And this is where the haunting occurs

Haunting

Hazel died in 1924 and these poems are part of a larger number of poems which together are called Songs of Farewell

So she knew that she was dying

It appears so

There is a note at the base of the page

Read it to me

Hazel Hall died during the May month preceding the publication of these verses  

Is that all

Yes

I wonder where she is now

She is most likely watching us

Do you believe there is anything else

Yes

So you think there is a lot more to life than two girls sitting on a threadbare settee near a railway life discussing the poems of a woman who passed away over ninety years ago

Yes I do believe in a God and an afterlife

I once had a friend at school who drowned whilst on holiday

We were quite close as you and I are good friends today

Here name was Sally

I missed her terribly at the time but the years have softened my sadness

However I still have a photograph of her

It was one of those silly teenage photographs taken on a day out

 We were on a pier and were taking a selfie cheek to cheek with stupid grins on our faces

Two years later Sally died

I often look at that photograph and look at her eyes and wonder what mysteries she has witnessed of which I have no idea about

Is she comfortable in the afterlife

Has she met God and Jesus

I do not think that you meet God or even Jesus

You feel their presence

We were cheek to cheek in that photograph

Physically touching on an ordinary day on an ordinary pier

But now she is so distant from me

I cannot touch her anymore

Those are my thoughts when I look at the photograph

I have retained her likeness but nothing else

And as I have said I wonder what those eyes have witnessed  

What does she know that I cannot begin to think about

Muriel touched Jackie’s wrist lightly and they both watched as an express train sped by at high speed

I often wonder if there are trains in Heaven too

So you have faith but are confused

Yes I suppose that you can put it that way

I never question my faith I feel it

I sense it

Even though the world constantly disappoints me it also is quite exhilarating

I am on a constant high

Small things very small things guide me

What do you mean?

Well you know that I told you that I found the poem in the vintage book I purchased

Yes

I was not going to go into the book shop as I found that it was rather expensive but I was wearing a light summer dress yesterday and as you are aware it rained at times and I did not want to get wet

Warm Summer Rain

Perhaps but I did not want to walk through the town looking like a girl who has fallen into a puddle

I had been in the shop for about five minutes when I took the opportunity to look out of the window

The rain was thinning but I decided to give it time

And then I knocked a book off of the shelf with my bag

It fell to the floor and opened on the page of Hazel’s poems

Out of curiosity I read her work and immediately purchased the book

How much was the book?

A fiver

Ouch

It was only when I was on the train home that I noticed that I had not only purchased a book but also a postcard which had been hidden between its pages

I had not noticed it at first

The postcard was from Portugal

It was from Fatima

Fatima

You know where the three children witnessed the visit of the Virgin Mary in 1917  

I have heard of it

Rather like Lourdes

In its way yes

Well without sounding too happy-clappy this was an indication at least to me of things happening behind the scenes

Have you ever thought of coincidence

Yes I always consider the mathematics of chance but I felt like I was destined to read Hazel’s final poems

They are in my view a little bleak but also full of hope

As I came into the station I saw you spread out on this settee so full of life

Enjoying the summer sun

It did not rain here

I sat in the sun for most of the afternoon

But I could see your clouds in the distance

Poor you lucky me

Or poor me and lucky you

Enough of this chat let us go inside and refresh ourselves  

One can discuss the future and the past but one must not forget the present

The vintage book of poems was left on the settee as the friends returned to the house

There was no breeze and its pages remained still in the hot sun

That was until a tiny ladybird landed on the book

It settled for a while until it was startled by the violence of a passing train and flew away

But the pages of the book were not affected by the disturbance of summer air

 

2018