Saturday 5 November 2016

A Particular Loss

When darkness comes our world shrinks,
If sight shapes our boundaries;
When the soul finds it is trapped
In winter, where Spring is just hope
Waiting is cold endurance.
There will be rebirth, faith will bring answers,
But idling, hoping, wondering, trying 
To be cheerful while a new way is found,
In the bleakness of emptiness,
In a place where security is no more,
Creates quick sands on the beach.

Early morning at Foxton Locks


Wednesday 19 October 2016

Nature

Tawny amongst green
A fox scouts prey in the kale,
Above, buzzards watch.

Saturday 15 October 2016

Finding Balance

As the miles pass so do the clouds,
The pain of humiliation eases;
My soul's bruises shrivel as stories
Of world horror replace them.
A paper bought to pass the time
Brings equilibrium, shrinking
The relevance of those
   Who did not dare
Who kept silent
           Who wouldn't commit.
The train moves towards the hills.


Dartmoor Gorse


Granite

The grooves are still there, 
Pressed into the granite by weight:
The weight of transporting granite.
The old tramway is gone now
The mine's emptiness has filled,
Water seeping into the vacuum
Making an unlikely pond, leaving
Dartmoor's history in a groove.

Rocks resist man, remain aloof,
Impregnable til greater forces
throw them asunder, swallowing
Villages in their volcanic thrust,
Reminding man of his insignificance.
When nature ravages and storms,
We are cast aside or enveloped.

Thursday 18 August 2016

Rosebay Willowherb

The mauve-pink army
stand straight beside the river,
spears waiting for charge.

Kimpton in August


Detail of a Dragonfly's wing


Sunday 5 June 2016

New Zealand



Nelson Cathedral
There's music in my soul
but not in my fingers
There's music in my voice
but not in my timing.

2000 organ pipes
Packed with care
Shipped as freight
London to Nelson
145 years ago.

I itch to hear them 
Breathe the notes to life
But not by me
It must transcend
Not irritate!
Internally I'll sing my thanks,
To share but just with God.




Pancake Rocks
Waves like the Furies
Attack the limestone endlessly 
Slamming, spraying their fury.
The rocks endure
Patiently marvelling
As their forms are reshaped,
Holes appear and arches
Curves, ridges, stacks,
Elegance now rather than mass.
Withstanding the tumult
Has brought beauty.


Saturday 4 June 2016

May Butterfly Discoveries

                                                                     
                   A Green hairstreak seen near Ivinghoe Beacon
                                         
                   A Duke of Burgundy seen near Ivinghoe Beacon