To become a shadow ...

I remembered Geoff when I saw the umbels -

How he used their stems as yarrow sticks - 

I remembered the flying jacket - 

Geoff's journey to the east - 

.

He'd sipped chai under a mulberry tree - 

Hitched lifts in gaudy Bedfords - 

I remembered how Richard had last seen Geoff -

Dark had fallen on the Common - 

Geoff had lit a cigarette - 

Walked away to become a shadow -  

31 July 2021

Moreton 

Lost in wonder ...

I'm listening to Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine - 

I can hear glorious trumpets - 

The voices of angels -

I'm lost in wonder - 

30 July 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset

Glimpses of the clouds ...

Moles delve beneath the lawn - 

Under the bright grass they sense the air above -

They dream of the sky -

The roots of the apple tree bring them glimpses of the clouds - 

29 July 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Memory was a silKen thread ...

Billy Winters was closed - 

The louche diner was silent - 

The wind filled the sails of yachts -

Lifted kite surfers above the waves - 

In my head I heard Jack Johnson - 

I remembered the schooner returning to the key - 

Memory was a silken thread - 

A piece of coral from a warm sea - 

28 July 2021

Portland 

Two legends entwined ...

I'm reading about Tamerlane, Sword of Islam - 

The Scourge of God - 

I gaze at maps showing deserts whose burning winds shrivelled tongues - 

Rivers Alexander crossed -

Cities with ancient names -

I read of khans and princes - 

The swift horses - 

The bows of horn, sinew and wood - 

The ash falling from the sky -

I think of the playwright whose first name I share - 

The slops of beer on the table - 

The dirty river - 

The shape of the thin blade - 

27 July 2021

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset 

We glimpsed a golden city ...

A field like this had been my Africa - 

I'd walked through the tall grass with John Garside and his brothers - 

They'd been my tribe - 

We'd cut a path through nettles and brambles - 

Soothed our bare stinging legs with dock leaves - 

Glimpsed a golden city between the trees - 

Monday 26 July 2021

Binnegar 

Dorset 

The dark river in the house ...

I'm reading Journey Without Maps -

I think about my own Africa - 

The pathway ending in the forest - 

The dark river in the house - 

25 July 2021

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset

Watching Scarface ...

I'll watch Scarface tonight - 

This parable with chain saws - 

Tony wants the world and everything in it - 

July 24 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Racing white horses ...

We lay on the sand, breathless from the waves - 

The warm salty wind blew us dry - 

A small yacht with a green sail raced white horses - 

I was dizzy with a secret joy - 

23 July 2021

Studland 

Dorse5

The dragonfly's blue dazzle ...

If I close my eyes, I can still see the dragonfly's blue dazzle -

The light on the water -

Tessa's smile - 

July 22 2021

Holmebridge 

A secret country ...

This part of the garden was overgrown -

There were tangles of greenery - 

A sundial cast a thin shadow -

Somewhere a bird was singing - 

The afternoon was a secret country - 

22 July 2021

The Walled Garden

Moreton 

The Mortal Man ...

In Troutbeck, we stayed in The Mortal Man -

 

We'd seen the lake from the dark wood - 

I woke after a night of dreams - 

I put on my clothes to walk through the silent house - 

The warm stairs were bathed in light -

Through the window I saw the green morning -  

7 July 2021

The Mortal Man 

Troutbeck 

His mysterious wisdom ...

We walked past a field of green wheat -

The narrow footpath was waist high with nettles - 

The warm air was still - 

We were sunburnt and quiet - 

I remembered the painting by Samuel Palmer -

A Cornfield by Moonlight with the Evening Star - 

For a while, the artist walked with me - 

He opened my eyes - 

For just a moment I was blessed by his mysterious wisdom - 

9 July 2021

Cumbria 

Returning to Greeneland ..

I'm thinking of returning to Greeneland -

I've been there before - 

This time, I have two passports -

I wear a suit which changes colour - 

I'll cross the frontier late at night - 

I'll sit in a cafe with paintings and flowers - 

I'll wait for the door open - 

21 July 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke

Dorset 

Twilight falling on the sands ...

We watched the twilight fall upon the sands - 

All we saw became silent - 

The tide had swallowed young men on splendid horses - 

The path across the bay was marked by their bright bones -

9 July 2021

Arneside

Voices from the sea ...

I'm reading The Trail of Cthulhu -

Once more I'm haunting Innsmouth -

I'm scratching parchment with a desperate quill - 

Gazing at myself in the mirror - 

Hearing those voices from the sea - 

July 20 2021

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset

A different voice ...

The sky was dark with rain - 

My path led downwards to the bright valley -

Soon rain fell -

I walked alone, listening to the water flowing in sudden torrents - 

Ii was as though I carried a different name - 

If I spoke, it would be with a different voice - 

July 4 2021

Above Grassmere 

Wild swimming ...

Cool water flowed over smooth stones - 

Trees shaded us - 

Shadows ran flickering over our bare skin - 

July 19 2021

Holmebridge 

Dorset

 

They placed their torn hands in ours ...

We took the knee -

Truths had been told - 

The long wall could not keep out these invisible guests -

Each one was naked, with a gold coin on his tongue - 

They stood with us whilst we knelt - 

They placed their torn hands in ours - 

Saturday 17 July 2021

Charborough Park

Dorset 

I'll remember a secret smile ...

We'll not mow our lawn until there are ankle high buttercups amongst the long grass - 

We will dine on olives amongst forget me nots - 

There will be drowsy afternoons - 

I'll remember a secret smile - 

Sunday 18 July 2021

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Warm earth in his hair ...

Reading the memorial in the sunlit nave, I pictured the young man's face -

I saw him fall far from this quiet place -  

Mourned by his fellow officers - 

Remembering the chill fields of his boyhood as he fell -

Placed in a womanless bed - 

Warm earth in his hair - 

5 July 2021

Grassmere 

The sands waited for the tide ...

I put on my brown cord jacket -

Alyson took the photograph - 

Tomorrow, I would drive south with Neill and Penelope -

Behind us, the sands waited for the tide -

9 July 2021

Arneside 

The New Shambles ...

We walked through the Public Pleasure Grounds -

Last night, police vans had been parked in the High Street - 

Pale boys had clutched England flags - 

There'd been trouble in the New Shambles -

6 July 2021

Kendal 

Our strange skin ...

Sleek cows stalked Adrian - 

I wondered what thoughts filled their massive heads -

The richness of grass - 

The tongues of their young - 

The sight of us - 

Our strange skin - 

Our hands - 

9 July 2021

Near Beetham

Dark Horse filled my glass ...

There were photographs of Wainwright in the lounge - 

Maps showed mazy paths and becks -

We lolled on sofas, our boots in the drying room - 

We ate baked potatoes - 

Dark Horse filled my glass- 

3 July 2021 

Old Water View

Patterdale 

Wearing a spendthrift's shirt ...

I ordered mussels with fennel and pequillo peppers in Corner 124 -

Wine shone in my glass - 

I wore a spendthrift's shirt - 

7 July 2021

Kendal 

There were spooky guitars ...

We listened to Blue Oyster Cult in the gleaming Subaru -

Neill drove faster -

The landscape flickered - 

There were spooky guitars - 

The motorway sang - 

10 July 2021

The M6

Those ancient voices ...

We remembered the rain against our faces -

The bright fields -

The silence of the high paths - 

In my small room under the roof I would dream of the dark waters of the tarn -

I'd walk once more hearing those ancient voices -

9 July 2021

Arneside 

There were strange flowers in their hair ...

There was no need to know the time in Brambles Cafe -

Outside, narrow stone cottages glistened in the rain - 

There were pale photographs of May Queens - 

Young women danced in white dresses - 

There were strange flowers in their hair - 

6 July 2021

Chapel Stile 

She watched the words fly around his head ...

We looked up to see clouds cover the high fells - 

Below us was the small lake near the poet's house -

He'd walked here with his bright eyed sister - 

I imagined her watching the words fly around his head - 

6 July 2021

Above Grassmere 

His beard became golden ...

The sky darkened over Fairfield -

Adrian remembered the heights he had climbed - 

Dollywaggon Pike,  Eagle Crag, Nethermost Pike -

His young bones showed themselves whilst he spoke - 

His beard became golden - 

4 July 2021

Fairfield 

The unfolding green ...

Our path lost itself in a field of maize -

Creaking greenery hid the sky - 

I felt the pulse of the rich earth -

The slow heartbeat of the unfolding green - 

8 July 2021

Near Kendal 

Dark water ...

Once narrow boats passed this way -

Now waist high meadowsweet scented the towpath - 

Dragonflies flew over yellow water-lilies -

The dark water carried ghosts under small bridges - 

July 9 2021

Lancaster Canal 

Near Crooklands 

Becoming pilgrims ...

Neill leant against the fingerpost -

As ever, he'd loped up the high hill - 

We followed him, slower footed - 

We, too, became pilgrims under a northern sky -

2 July 2021

Ullswater 

Watching steamers in the rain ...

I watched one of the Ullswater steamers head up the lake - 

We walked through the campsite -

Cagouled mums fried bacon for hungry boys - 

Daughters, each one an Artemis, carried paddle boards to the water - 

Rain clouds gathered - 

3 July 2021

Ullswater 

Walking to Grisedale Tarn ...

Our path upwards was marked by drystone walls -

Moss cushioned old stones -

Sinewy trees were rooted in the bones of the land -

Bright grass was still wet with rain - 

4 July 2021

Below Grisedale Tarn

Fairfield 

We bring with us the air of the high paths ...

Through my window I can see the fells - 

Clouds move across the sky - 

I can stretch out upon the red sofa - 

All around me is the gracious house -

The high ceilinged rooms are kind to travellers - 

We bring with us the air of the high paths - 

The silence where stone touches sky - 

July 5 2021

How Foot Lodge 

Grassmere 

Drysdale Tarn ...

The wind hardly stirred the surface of the tarn - 

I'd placed my small stone upon the cairn - 

I was alone with air and sky -

4 July 2021

Drysdale Tarn

A crocodile of cubs ...

We saw a crocodile of cubs -

Far below - 

Dizzy with the smell of the lake and the trees - 

Breathing innocence upon the bright grass - 

4 July 2021

Patterdale 

Joyous for an hour ...

We watched the sails move down the lake -

Small white wings -

Like mayflies, joyous for an hour - 

July 3 2021

Ullswater 

The water shone like old silver ...

We saw the lake from the fells -

We'd heard skylarks - 

The water shone like old silver - 

Clouds bought rain to the hills - 

Washed the fields clean - 

July 2 2021

Ullswater 

More love ...

The river still flowed in its stony bed -

Swallows returned -

The rich grass was cut - 

The seasons turned round the broken tower -

I lay my head upon a lichened stone - 

I wrote the words upon my heart - 

More love - 

More love - 

July 1 2021

Shap Abbey