Byland Abbey

The curve and soar of a swallow in stone,

The echo of flight in the ghost of a window

The splash of glaze in a blaze of grass

And the cool stretching maze of the shadows.

Sun bathing lazy girl laid at my side

Counting the clouds in the chapter house,

Vaulted with laughter and glittered with words,

We were butterflies jewelled in the sunlight

My loves and my lover - we danced silver bright,

We were lighter than cloistering daisies.

We were hand-in-hand angels as pure as the sky,

And our memory lies like a kiss

On this lovliest of places.