Vallum Barn in the early hours of July 13 2014 ...

My room in Vallum Barn was filled with solemn furniture - the bed was a brass raft upon which to throw myself - the walls were hung with framed prints of hawks - 

Outside there was a mossy courtyard, enclosed by austere lichened farm buildings - 

I woke up in the early hours of the morning, hearing the church clock strike three - 

For a moment, I was afraid - I thought that the dark wardrobe was a haunt of djinns - 

I remembered our hostess saying that the barn was two hundred years old -

I'd woken up from a sad dream - I'd been lost in a pale city, torn from a tender embrace - 

I lay awake until almost dawn, when I fell asleep again, curled up under the crimson quilt, diving deep into a silky sea - 

3.00 - 5.00

July 13 2014

Vallum Barn

Irthington