from Letter from a far Country.

...Our milky tendernesses dry
to crisp lists: immaculate
linen; jars labelled and glossy
with our perfect preserves.
Spiced oranges; green tomato
chutney; seville orange marmalade
annually staining gold
the snows of January.

Jams and jellies of blackberry,
crabapple, strawberry, plum,
greengage and loganberry.
You can see the fruit pressing
their little faces against the glass;
tiny onions imprisioned
in their preservative juices.

Familiar days are stoned whole
in bottles. Theres a wet morning
orchard in the dandelion wine;
a while spring distilled
in elderflowers clarity;
and a loving late, sunburning
day of October in syrups
of rose hip and the beautiful
black sloes that stained the gin to rose.
Gillian Clarke.