Racing away
Like time,
Careering round blind bends
On my own side of the road
Travelling
Going nowhere
And anywhere
All at once.
Scented air
Fig and fennel
Orange blossom and thyme
Up to the stone city
Blistering in the heat
Ancient atmposphere
Alive with shimmering
Eagles and Ravens
Soar in spirals
And the island awaits
Like a beautiful promise
So hard to reach
But utterly present.
#CoSopoetry

History oozes
Like warm blood
Out of the rocks
Upon which I stand
I'm alive
To the moment
Where timeless ghosts
Admit their failure
Under the shade
Of the cool cypress tree.
We stand on the same ground
As gods and demons
We all look the same
Far above the shining sea
Under the Ravens wing we fly
All our gifts
Our little offerings
Dark as coal-bright
Bright as starlight
On the plough,
The way is rutted smooth by time
The careless slip away,
There's no tomorrow.
There's only ever now
#CoSopoetry

Crystal clear
A cool north wind
To take late swallows southerly
And I mourn summers ending
In this autumn glory of a morning
Goldfinches in a little cloud,
Gathered around a Kestrel
Drawn to her
They will never let her go.
She knows
The power she has
And goes gently
Into her morning
And they are lost.
And there you are
The winter Queen
Flying high with her consort
Air moves softly
though your fingers
Takes my breath away
Wingtips set the air a-shimmer
As the dewdrops turn to frost
#CoSopoetry

Golden sunshine between
Wintery showers, sleet
the first of the autumn,
And cold feet
Cold cheeks
And a silvery sky
My heart was full
As I sped down the hill
Peppered with shot
And buffeted
By a northerly sidewind
Making waves in the sepia grass
Heart racing
I'm heading under the arch
Of where the rainbow seemed to be
Looking for gold
And finding brass.
#CoSopoetry

Approaching coldness
The most beautiful birds
have flown
And the moor sings darkly
With almost silence
The heather has turned to bronze
And thistles sag
in droopy black towers
No feast for the goldfinches here
They've gone to the teasels
Down by the mill
And the hares have danced
Over the mountain
And left me to the crows
And the whispering pipits
Up in the mist on the hill.
#CoSopoetry

There's steel in the sky
And battles to be fought
The air is thick with thunder
And my journey is lit
By wonderful creatures
From the beautiful darkness
Brown owl, calling to me
bringing me hope
Comfort and clarity
in the deep of the deep
of the depths of the night
Black rabbit, black rabbit
Bringing me wisdom
And all the good fortune
Of all of the ages
Oystercatcher
Hide me from danger
Wrap me in warmth
And dress me
With pearls of love
#CoSopoetry

Beautiful
Autumn colours
Gold in the woods
And amber and yellow
A single red Rowan
Stands proudly and small
Out on the moss
Where a single tall birch
Hushes the summer
With silver and ochre
Goldfinch angels
Lit by the sun
Each one a song
For the gold in the morning
And pipits in little clouds
Raining their high notes
Over the heather
And over the hill
#CoSopoetry

Where are we now?
Buoyed up, weighed down
Deep in the mist
With our hearts full of secrets,
Longing and wondering,
Blown by the wind
That way and this.
Most of the journey
Is in the fog
But we know the way,
mainly.
Moments of clarity
When the sun shone
Usually, I remember,
In the gap below the last hill.
Then I saw the hare
Bloodied, beautiful and still
And wondered
Perhaps I preferred it
In the mist.
#CoSopoetry

A wilder wind
Stopping the gulls
In their tracks
Hanging still in the sky
Straining
Finding a way forward
Through turbulent swirls
Of thin, drenching rain
Where are we going
The gulls and me?
There's beauty to be found
Delicate flowers
Hidden in the grass
Little lilac towers
Full of sweetness
And ease
I notice, and we pass
Such little glories by.
#CoSopoetry

The crows are high
With glossy sheen
And their oils and their potions
Rising like petrichor
Into the wind.
Great gobbets of rain
In thick lumps falling
From a lead September sky
It was warm in the south
No wonder the Swallows
Are away on their travels
But the green of this place
And the smell of the grit
In the rock of the place
Is home
#CoSopoetry

A gentle fog
All embracing
The world is small
And grey
The walls are softened
By dewdropped cobwebs
And shining thistletops nod
Heavy with sleep.
Theres always a place
Where the light finds me
The shape of a Heron,
Furled, flying low
Crossing my orbit
A pipit peeping
Over the wall
A shaft of silver morning light
Shining on me
A shadow in the mist
Smiling.
#CoSopoetry

September
And the sky is low
And a strengthening breeze
comes in from the east
Pipits are with me
In a noisy crowd
And crows in their hordes
Darken the fields
And paint the air black
With raucous calls
The switch is flipped
And autumn is upon us
A single Swan
High up
and southwards-moving
Graceful and lovely
Her song is her flight
As feathers strum the air
With a rushing hum
Soft murmuring in my ear
Calling me down
To the amber woods
#CoSopoetry

A golden sun shining
From a clear blue sky
A little cloud of Goldfinches rising
From old grey thistle-heads
Twinkling
A hare leaps over the track
And away, over the moss
Over to where the deer are hiding
On the edge of the copse
Dragonflies and butterflies
Hovering and fluttering
There's a hushing wind
Sighing through the yellow birch
Ruffling leaves
Like a soft brush on a drum
A gentle kiss
A lovers touch.
#CoSopoetry

What did I hope for
In the morning?
Just that sometimes
the sun might shine,
And that I could see some beauty
Along my way
I hoped for beautiful meetings
Amidst the trouble
Knowing
that there would be trouble.
And I have met beauty
All along my way
Even in the midst of trouble
Perhaps especially there
Where the sun did not shine
There was the little bird
Singing to me
Leading me on
To where the sun was shining.
#CoSopoetry

The hole in my heart
Is the shape of a skylark
And I will fill it
With song.
Im dealing with absence
Knowing all along
That what is missing
Has not gone
He is just a visitor
He does not belong here
And all soon will be well
The swallows will return
And the Curlews
will sing their lovely song to me
Again.
Listen carefully,
Still there,
Your beautiful music
haunts my memory
Feeling your presence
Makes my heart sing
#CoSopoetry

Ah the Swallows.
Youre still here
Keeping tight hold
to the threads of the summer
As the sun moves southerly.
I'm the child in a market
Holding on
Never let go of the summer.
If I loosen my grip
And turned to look
To some golden autumn beauty
You'll be gone.
Your daisies are bright today
And I feel your presence
Like the hawk,
High in a layered sky
White and silver
Fading to grey
And there, behind it all
Is blue.
#CoSopoetry

Today my head
Is full of music
Just a phrase
A beautiful question
Again and again
How did you sleep
My love?
It drowns out
all other questions.
I'll stick to the road today
My tyres too thin
For the rough and tumble
And I just want to listen
To the question.
How beautiful are the goldfinches
As they decorate the thistles
With glittering whispers
And gold, softly
On the prickles.
#CoSopoetry

A nuthatch
Ringing out
His little silver changes
From a hidden perch
In airy little stand
Of silver birch
Swallows and Martins
Flock by the bridge
Wild and hunting
For airborne treasure
For moth and midge
This air feels different
The sky is darkening,
There's a chill to the day
And azure summer
turns to grey
There's a hurry
and a boistrous rush
Everything feels uncertain
A beautiful feather
Falling from grace
Turns in gentle spirals
And settles at the crossroads.
#CoSopoetry

A sepia Sunday
And I'm looking back
At summer fading gently
Into brown.
A cool south-westerly
Sets the lake a'shimmer
And the crows are shining
On the naked Ash
Oh now I can see
The way I've taken
Out of a milky sun
And my winding path
Shines at me
Smiling
Winding its way
Brighter where I had to stop
Always wandering
But following me
All the way to now
Where ticking wrens
Sing glowing songs
To the bright red Rowan tree.
#CoSopoetry

Round and slowly
Round and round
The buzzard sketches circles
In a tall grey sky
No sun today
Just a milky pool
Hovering,
shining softly
After the storm
Other-worldly
Trees skittled over
On the edge of the wood
Full leaved
and vulnerable
To the wild breath of air
All of that passion, spent
And now we can see
What goes on
beneath the surface
How fragile we all are.
#CoSopoetry