Double vision

Enjoying the summer weather Let’s all come together We’ll marvel at seed germination With grit and determination. Refilling the dry birdbath We’re walking a critical path We’ll get a bumper crop As we’ve pulled out all the stops. Having picked out the weak We are now past the peak

Maisie

She waits, alert and patient, Waiting for she knows not what. But when it comes, she’s up… Eager for food, a walk, recognition. Her head low, her body long, She rests and waits until… Ears twitch, head lifts and She peers under long eyebrows. She waits. Does she ruminate on yesterday? Is she considering tomorrow?

Psalm 121 – a reflection

Another day and my eyes are drawn to the mountains, rugged, Alpine peaks, rock exposed and permanent. I search among the forest of evergreens and then to the mountain again where the path disappears into mist. I lay still, shallow breaths and stare at the painting hung on the wall…a window on another place and

The Longest Day

Early on the longest day, we run past Waist high green wheat and yellow barley, While lambs to slaughter, gone, and Wild grasses, mowed and baled. A skylark’s song and sparrowhawk’s cry The only sounds in the early morning heat. Peacock, Red Admiral and Gate-keeper, Iridescent mayfly and black winged dragonfly Arise and dance ahead

Spring in the valley

Creation called me to worship this fine April morning with the clouds scudding And the sky patched and sun-spotted. This valley still surprises me and lifts my soul; For the blackthorn is white with fine blossom And the black-legged, black-eared ewes, long suffering and nervous, As my two mutts mooch then tug on their leads.

I Spy…

an alphabet in the Nene Valley Buzzards soar, cuckoos call Egret, geese and goslings. Herons stand, kites search Swifts, swans and signets While over all the skylarks sing. Bridges span, canoes drift, Cycles, ramblers and dogs. Gravel taken, lakes filled Locks, mill race and weirs While through it all the river meanders. Badby rises, Barnwell

Scratching the Surface

Beneath the soles of trainers and boots, Under the rubber tyres and padded paws, The sand and gravel, stone and dust Is pressed and beaten, levelled flat. A walker’s highway, a circuit for runners Where the beeps of fitbits join the mix Of blue tits and warblers and LBJs, And a returning cuckoo announces Spring.

A Garden of Memories

I remember, I remember The garden at my grandma’s house, Where honesty and nettles grew With ferns, rhubarb and the odd mouse! I remember, I remember Goldenrod and Solomon seal; The nettles where my brother fell Then smeared with calamine, to heal. My mum remembers the garden As a pleasant place to play Fish, newts

Locked in/Set free

A Pantoun is a type of poem where the 2nd and 4th lines are echoed in the 1st and 3rd lines of the following stanza. Hopes were dashed when He died, Betrayed mocked and crucified. Together, they stayed locked in Grieving, with nerves wearing thin. Crucified, betrayed and mocked They waited for the soldier’s knock.

Sonnet for Georgia

Welcome, my darling Georgia Mae McCabe To a world in lock down and national crisis. You are precious and loved. Don’t be afraid. You have Isla, as a best friend and big Sis. Your lovely little face with peach soft skin, Button round nose and eyes dark blue; I wonder if you’ll have the Hacksley