It Does Seem Long Ago

Perhaps i would feel a stranger now where i lived as a boy
Where my first lessons from Nature i used to enjoy
Most of the mentors of my childhood in eternal rest lay
And even on those younger than me time ticking away

The Winters were cold and wet there as i do recall
And the cattle in farm sheds to Spring from late Fall
But April brought green growth with mild seasonal showers
And the old fields looked lovely in their Nature's flowers

When the dipper was singing in the silver tongued rill
That babbled to the river from the field by the hill
And the blackbird and song thrush and robin were on song
In memory my links to the past remain strong

When the hawthorns were in their blooms of white to gray
The nesting wrens and finches were singing in the green woods of May
And the swallows were home from warm lands far away
Chasing flying insects above the old fields all the day

I remember with fondness though no longer with tears
The place i was born in where i spent my younger years
From there i've been long absent and time is my foe
And since i last lived there it does seem long ago.