love of Tuscany – willowdot21

Golden green and sun kissed blue a strange explosion of colours where the old meets new. Gentle whispers on breeze pass your ears and enchant the leaves. Reflecting sun from a long ago shield catches your eye from away across the field.

Cool shadows bless the narrow street that you now wonder where before have so many feet. The tall towers look like skyscrapers from a distance they were homes, warehouse and last defence nothing left to chance.

The grapes and olives grow anew as for centuries they have and do they notice the changing seasons as years progress and people follow life for many reasons. The paths that now horses trot along are the very same as were travelled in years bygone.

The view from the castle rampart high is still the same as when surfs, lords and ladies passed by. Great battles on these hills were fought from medieval to world war 2 and all for nought. The castles and walled towns still stand they live and breathe past and future hand in hand.

The café’s, restaurants and the shops all fit into the ancient stone buildings and castle tops looking out at the same view that they always had and always will do. The modern women in their high heel shoes and haute couture walking carefully on the cobbled floor of streets that have born dainty shoes and bare feet before.

Field of long stalks and drooping heads hung down the month before were seas of yellow. The sun flowers wearing their crown. Swaying and dancing in the enchanted breeze to catch the eye and the soul to please.

So when you visit town or village the walls all tell a story , they live and breathe this 21st century yet they do not forget their older glories. The houses and churches all have souls who mingle with todays’ and share their goals.

This wondrous mix I have never seen in all my life or even in a dream. I love the colours and light , sun by day and moon at night.The streets and buildings team with life as always, they’ve have seen love and grief joy and strife.

I hope one day my life will guide me back this way so in fields of gold under azure skies I will sway. I will watch the present and the past living united. I pray God that lasts.

Hello everyone of my new and good friends. I have been away and so I am sorry that I have not answered any of your comments or left anyway of my own on all your beautiful poetry and writings.

I have been discovering the beautiful Tuscan region of Italy. It is a land full of grapes, olives , green rolling hills which in the months before my visit were covered in amazing sunflowers. Imagine the scenery fields and fields of golden sun flowers dancing in the breeze. There were only a few left as we drove through but we could see their dried up stalks and the occasional golden flower head still in the fields.

We visited many beautiful walled cities, towns and villages, people are living and working in the places straight out of history. Alive and vividly beautiful , full of echoes of the centuries that have gone before. It is a shame that more countries have not kept their history alive in this way. I do realize that many countries , New Zealand, Australia, America, Canada and some of the newer South African states do not have centuries of history ……. but there are people who populated those countries before the new settles arrived and claimed the soil. I do know that many European countries, mine among them,were war ravaged and so have had to rebuild loosing many original towns and villages.

Tuscany , no doubt all of Italy , I only have knowledge of Tuscany , but as I was saying Tuscany celebrates its history and it’s present together. It is alive with beauty and sun and history. In may places I could feel the presence of all those who had walked the cobbled streets and looked out from the high walled walks of a castle and saw exactly what I saw, when they looked out from that same spot.

We stayed in a beautiful house built in the 13th century it was full of the sense of what went before . Our hosts were truly kind and welcoming people who made our stay so much more special. Also we were so lucky, in that all our fellow guests turned out to be beautiful and friendly people of all types and nationalities and we feel that we have made firm friendships with all of them.

Every evening we all shared a meal, at a long table and what ever mix of guests that was there each evening we always found that the mix of good food and wine was enhanced a thousand fold by the joy and fun found in banter and conversation with our fellow guests and our hosts.

So dear friends and fellow writers that is my excuse and explanation for my silence , I am back now so it is catch up time and hopefully the Tuscan sun, fun and ghosts will inspire me to write.