Empathy Rains
by Irene Strange
Apples and pears, blackberries too,
grow in seasonal colours of every hue.
Fields and gardens, full of flowers,
fill every corner in clusters and bowers.
Plants and herbs push through the earth
providing roots to give new birth.
Bushes and trees grow wild and tall —
a safe home for birds large and small.
Branches and leaves can be seen
deciduous and evergreen.
Worms and insects trail the ground
as bees and butterflies flit around.
All the seasons come and go
with sunshine, rain, hail and snow.
Nature provides its very best
with oxygen and air at its behest.
All surviving side by side
providing the sustenance we need to survive.
Though now retired, Irene Strange has been many things: a member of the WRAF, secretary of the Chartered Bank of England in Aden, and a town councillor for Southsea Town Council. She opened the English Division of the Libyan Broadcasting Service in Benghazi and was a journalist on the Benghazi Daily Newspaper. She recently published the book ‘Floating My Balloon’.