A wild edge to the westerly
Weather for crows
and screaming gulls
As I labour on, buffeted
by the turbulence
That is their joy.
Theirs is the beauty
On a day like today
When they find their place
At the top of the order
Revelling in flow
As more beautiful birds
Hide quiet in low bushes
This wind would stir
The mighty ocean
Even the amber moor
Is moving under its spell
Hushing waves
Hissing through the rushes
Like the roaring tide
On shingle.
#CoSopoetry

Another gateway beckons
Riding into misty winter
With the tattered crows
Calling
There's a darkness caught
On my moorland oak
It's flying in the breeze
Like a witches rags
And I fly to the light
Of long winter nights
With a lovely raven
Flying with me
In all her darkness shining.
I feel the absence
of the skylarks song
And know that the music
Is in my heart
Lost and found,
All the work of spring and summer
Is underground
Gorse-gold is my joy.
#CoSopoetry

I'm at the very top
Of my ride
The sky so low
I can reach out to touch it
Soft on my fingers
Silken air, a chiffon hush
On my rosy cheeks
from the gentle breeze
I can hear the music
Of the wild moor, quiet
In the grey
and the stone-brown rush
Of the bubbling bog
And the raven brings his joy
from the north
In a low song
whispering love to the mountain.
#CoSopoetry

There's an owl on the wall
And a song in my heart
On this wet, grey morning.
I've laboured up the muddy track
And turned the corner
Where the Rowans stand naked
Since the thrushes stole their light
A robin sings his little song
And warms the air with melody
Bubbling along like a little river
Pushing me onwards
Towards the misty summit
And the freedom to breathe
Then away with the winds
I've broken through the edge of the sky
And I'm flying into the gold
Of an autumn morning
#CoSopoetry

This golden morning
Sunlight beaming down
Like love smiling
From a beautiful heart
Its still and quiet
A soft frost
Brings a crystal brilliance
To shining grasses
And lends its light
To the crimson hawthorn
Berries shining
Like a thousand rubies
in the night
White gulls flying
Like little dreams
Over the golden woods
The whole world
Seems to sparkle
And I'm flying with the gulls
Effortless and still
On my golden hill
#CoSopoetry

This mornings dawn
Would take your breath away
My love
So deep is the gold
So gentle the lilac
Painted
Across the whole of the sky
Small birds
In tinkling flocks
Lit by the light of it all.
Look and wonder
My lovely doe
Tread gently
Tiptoe through
The soft moss of morning
Into this hopeful day.
#CoSopoetry

How far is now?
I'm riding in twilight
And murky rainclouds
Pinpricks of mist
Tingle my skin
And I'm back in my bubble
So I chose hope
I'm holding the beauty
I've witnessed before
The larks and the swallows
The kestrels and buttercups
My beautiful owl, floating
just on the edge
Of my knowing
And noticing her absence
Summons her presence
And that makes me smile
A robin sings in the mist
Just three notes.
#CoSopoetry

The rising sun
Climbs softly
Over the misty wall of night
And into the glorious morning
Blue skies
Old heather shines
With a deep copper glow
Sepia grasses
Silver, waving
in the gentle breeze
There's gold in the woods
Of a thousand trees
Erupting with light
Wild geese call
from silver waters
And glossy ravens
Singing low
Tumble out
Of clear air
#CoSopoetry

Today my doe
Is far away
Down by the wall
of the far, far field
Down, down
By the edge of the wood
Moving away from me
Gently.
Knowing I am watching
Seeing me with her deepest gaze
At eyes-meet, we greet each other
Under the half-light
Of a soft sun
Shining through
A silver mist
Like the moon made new
Unblemished
Pale, and flying gentle
Into the morning blue
All like a page from a fairy tale
Like the memory of a dream.
#CoSopoetry

How beautifully she moves
Full of grace
Even in the mist of danger
The midst of risk
She dances on tiptoes
Then is gone
Up through the golden gorse
And away
This foggy day
Starts with this little beauty
And I see hope
Behind the clouds
As I fly towards the east
The clouds part
The curtains open
on the greatest stage
And golden light
Floods the valley
Up across the hillside
Ignites the sullen moor
With autumn fire
#CoSopoetry

There's lightness to the sky
In the rising east
And I am thinking about love
And how my moorland oak
Has let go her leaves
Blown away
Like little secrets
On the gale
She is the gallant ship
Weathered, left in rags
In her peaceful harbour
Waiting for the storms to pass
Another year races by
Like the wild wind,
Soon she will be sailing
In her earliest green
Singing to the spring
And smiling
#CoSopoetry

Great gouts of rain
Blown by the gale
In silver sheets
and pewter curtains
Against me
Every way I turn
Leaves in tatters on the ground
And the sycamore is sighing
Water is high
And the silver stream is racing
Past the stately Heron
To the flood.
I'm soaked to my bones
And energised by the wildness
Of wet October weather.
#CoSopoetry

A darker lower light
A low sky
Weeping,
Heavy with rain
The silver stream is full
And water stands silver
In the flooded fields
I can hear the soft tones
Of a Raven, high
Way beyond my knowing
Just the feeling of a Raven,
Safe and true
A nuthatch taps out silver notes
Like sparks flying from the hazel
And the blackbird sings
His honeyed song
From the highest twig
Of the crimson maple
Deep and sweet
Bathing our world
With peaceful balm.
#CoSopoetry

A golden pool
Swimming
Between the horizon
And the mist
Its light the light of the ages
The world is burnished
Bronze woods shine
As if lit from within
As if all of the fires
Of spring and summer
Were burning still
And the deer by the roadside
Shimmering like an angel.
Ah, the Raven knows about love
She visits me again
from her heaven
Out of the mist
In a steepening fall
Singing to me
Her low music
Whispering
One day
We will fly away
#CoSopoetry

On the edge again
The valley
Bathed in gold
The steepening hill hidden
By silver mist
The road littered
With the jetsam of the moor
And little torrents flow
The sky fell last night
And has left us bathed
in rainwashed rubble
Each shining pebble
It's own little beauty
Ah, the Raven knows about love
And the turning of the wheel
High above he whispers
On the misty edge
Then flies with me
Towards the golden morning
As I fly across the threshold
Into light.
#CoSopoetry

Misty
I only see
the east wind flowing
Swirling softly
In warm bewindings
Round the mossy wall.
Am I lost?
Am I found?
The sheep seem to know
The right way to follow
Following the ancient
Well-trodden track
As old as the walls
A Raven appears
Like a beautiful secret
Like a truth
Revealed.
The warm wind
Beneath her wings
Bathing a corner of my heart
In gentle music
#CoSopoetry

The leaves are late this year
The golden woods
Hold tight to their treasure
And on the misty hill
My moorland oak
Still beautiful
In dark brown softness
The wind is up from the east
My legs feel the chill
And my energy is low
But the Kestrel cuts through
Cold air with grace and ease
And leads me as she moves
From pole to pole
Like a gentle current
In a racing tide
#CoSopoetry

So many times
Around the sun
And here I am again.
Back to where the beauty
All began.
The music of wild geese
Is ringing round the moor
Two kestrels flying
In a deep blue sky,
I face the great divide
Between ease and mystery
And move towards the silver mist
My ghost is there,
smiling,
Cast by a veiled silver sun
Where do I go from here, my love?
Forwards, forwards
That's the way
This is not the place it was before
That is many miles away
And that was all
A different day.
#CoSopoetry

Noticing
The stillness of the mills
Southwest facing
Silence
That open ended space
Into which the daylight tumbles
Silver from a sun that hides
Behind her silver veil
Into this silver silence
The sound of wings
And low, murmered conversation
Four Ravens, like spirits
Stirring the air
Making it tremble
Filling the silence completely
With the turbulence of their passing
Time stands still
And its Ravens dance
To the music.
#CoSopoetry

There's rain in the air
And cold enough for sleet
There's an even light
Across the sky
Bright despite the weather
Whisps of mist sit ragged on the clough
Drifting softly in their white
Like gentle ghosts
Winding through the trees
And there,
Lit by the whiteness
The brightness
The shining sky
Three roe-deer does,
Telling their ancient story
Willing me on
And waiting for me.
#CoSopoetry