The Wind Cries Mary

I have not done any writing for ages, not for a lack of want or trying, it’s just a blockage that comes and always passes. I do not like it all the same!

Anyway I have been reading some poems…..it’s a funny thing poetry. It can be a very self centered exercise, it can be theraputic and it can be a glorious exploration of language and perception. It always surprises me that I do not find many poems that I really like.

It’s been quite windy here for a while now. I like the wind, I like the invisible force that buffets me and plays with my hair. I like leaning into it and opposing its strength, and I like running in it and harnessing its power. So, I went looking for poems about the wind as I find myself unable to come up with something that does it justice.

It didn't take too long before Jimmy Hendrix was playing The Wind Cries Mary on the old head duke box but beautiful though it is, it's not about the wind.

Then I found this. I like this; this would have been the sort of thing I would like to have created. It goes off my track a little towards the end but who am I to judge, it’s Robert Louis Stevenson for goodness sake! Enjoy.

The Wind
by Robert Louis Stevenson

I saw you toss the kites on high
And blow the birds about the sky;
And all around I heard you pass,
Like ladies' skirts across the grass

Oh wind, a blowing all day long,
Oh wind, that sings so loud a song!

I saw the different things you did,
But always you yourself you hid.
I felt you push, I heard you call,
I could not see yourself at all

Oh wind, a blowing all day long!
Oh wind, that sings so loud a song!

O you that are so strong and cold,
O blower, are you young or old?
Are you a beast of field and tree,
Or just a stronger child than me?

O wind, a blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!