Mantelpiece Ornaments

This vase is glass and pewter
with freesias, roses, butterfly:
a silver-wedding present
extra pleasing to the eye
for knowing it's not silver,
so no cleaning is involved;
it's still beautiful to look at
(oxidation problem solved)!

The bullfinch - for my love of birds,
in wintertime still bright -
flew from the shelf of a charity shop
reflecting my delight
in creatures, as the hedgehog
of clear, crystal glass
also does - a present from
my husband in the past.

And, last, a wooden mushroom
(Nature strikes again!),
turned in yew so beautifully
just as it might lean
if growing wild in woodland,
through my sister's skilful art.
So family and the natural world
unite to warm my heart.

© Celia Warren 2018