The Skylight, by Seamus Heaney

Lent, Day 30

You were the one for skylights. I opposed
Cutting into the seasoned tongue-and-groove
Of pitch pine. I liked it low and closed,
Its claustrophobic, nest-up-in-the-roof
Effect. I liked the snuff-dry feeling,
The perfect, trunk-lid fit of the old ceiling.
Under there, it was all hutch and hatch.
The blue slates kept the heat like midnight thatch.

But when the slates came off, extravagant
Sky entered and held surprise wide open.
For days I felt like an inhabitant
Of that house where the man sick of the palsy
Was lowered through the roof, had his sins forgiven,
Was healed, took up his bed and walked away.

This is the roof of the Pigeon House in the Rococo Gardens here at Painswick - can you see the light coming in?

It has been another gorgeous day - fresh and sunny, and we've spent it walking: 21, 300 steps exactly, according to D's app. Interspersed with eating, ending with local Butterscotch Chip ice-cream, here in the Library - which is just delicious.