Rebirth

I thought I should never walk again
Beside the Ellerbeck.
But here I am with my trolley,
Trundling along the knobbly path.
Here is the water music
Singing over the pebbly bed.
Here are the alders, up to their calves
Along each side.
The smell of white garlic
Foaming over the banks.
A mother mallard takes out her brood
Of five brown balls of fluff
For their first swim,
Paddles working top speed against the stream
And somewhere a lamb rings a cracked bell
For mother comfort.
New life for me,
Wrung from what seemed the end.