Delving into a world of shadow and leaf ...

Our journey started, as it would finish, with bird song and bright grass underfoot - a warm breeze blew against our faces - meadows were yellow with buttercups - swallows graced the air, circling delicate weathervanes - trees were in summer leaf - the rich earth cast its spell - 

The narrow path was shaded by opulent greenery - fierce young nettles stung our ankles - leaves brushed against my forehead - it was as if we were delving into a world of shadow and leaf, each leaf like a jewel, each shadow a dark mirror - 

I thought of the Green Children of Woolpit, falling from their heaven - 

Perhaps, in some deep wood, we might catch sight of their kindred - we would speak in their celestial language - we would drink their emerald wine - 

11.30

Wednesday June 3 2015

Start of the Hangers Way

Alton

Hampshire

All Saints Church, Steep, Edward Thomas in his sad khaki ...

A yew tree shaded us whilst we lay upon amongst the lichened stones - 

Outside the church, four men in black suits spoke in whispers - 

The noon sun hung in the bright air over the tower - 

I'd gazed at the memorials for the young men who fell from the sky - 

Richard spoke of the deep waters of Piburger See - I remembered the dark pines on the mountainside - 

After a while, the four men carried a coffin on their shoulders to the funeral car - they were followed by the mourners, the women in severe dresses, the men with glinting shoes - 

I told Richard that when I sixteen years old, I'd visit St Ann's Cemetery - I'd feel the cold wind in my long hair - 

My uncle and aunt are in there Richard said - 

We entered the church - the Bible on the lectern was open at Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 - 

We read the beautiful ageless words - 

A tall man with a noble head told us about Captain Wyndham Halswelle - 

He won the gold for the 400 metres in the 1908 Olympics he said - a sniper got him at Neuve Chapelle - 

We then saw the restored memorial windows for Edward Thomas - there was his coat, hanging upon a kindly bough - his path was bordered by may blossom - there were the icy haunting stanzas of The New House - 

And there, carved into the pale stone, to right of Captain Wyndham Halswelle's name, was the poet's name - 

I saw him in his sad khaki, emptied of breath, words torn from his tongue - 

12.30

Thursday June 4 2015

All Saints Church

Steep

Monk Wood ...

Walking towards Monk Wood, we heard sky larks singing - the bright grass of Neatham Down was still damp from last night's rain - 

We followed the footpath upwards, towards the dark trees - clouds moved across the sky like vast shy beasts - 

A deer watched us - I could just see it, half hidden in the grass, a slender fearful wonder - 

We climbed an ancient earthwork into the wood - we looked down into silence and shadow and dancing light - 

11.45

Wednesday June 3 2015

Monk Wood

Hampshire

Walking to Fratton Station with Richard ...

I woke up at six, under the orange lampshade shaped like a hot air balloon - 

I lay still for a few moments, stretched out upon the forgiving bed - 

My clothes were scattered upon the floor - seagulls flew over the roofs of the terraced houses - the Albanians across the street were still dreaming their wild dreams - 

Downstairs, Richard was already dressed - strange numbers glowed on the PC screen - 

We walked to the station under a pristine sky - there were red roses amongst the pale stones of the Jewish Cemetery - 

The Golden Eagle was a silent temple - 

Richard said those double Teachers were perhaps a mistake - 

I remembered the brimming tumblers - Lou had been very generous with her measures - 

We stood upon the platform, waiting for the train - 

I remembered how it was, to go to work - 

Richard greeted a former colleague - 

I recognised her careful, professional, smile - 

Then I thought of hollow lanes, bright fields, hangers full of bird song - 

Our adventure had begun ...

08.00

Wednesday June 4 2015

Fratton Railway Station

Portsmouth 

Hampshire 

Dining at Pie and Vinyl ...

After dark ale and old stories in The Hole in the Wall, we dined at Pie and Vinyl - 

Richard led me through mazey evening streets towards the sea - 

My dad, I thought, had known these pavements - 

I thought of him, hearing Chamberlain's voice on the clumsy radio - 

In each terraced house, the dead shared the air with the living - 

I saw a speckled mirror in the window of an antiques shop - a globe was marked with strange continents - 

Richard said there's the gallery where Gareth sold his painted tiles - 

In Pie and Vinyl we ate Matador pies - 

The eatery was furnished with curious objects - an owl perched on a dansette - a sad toy sat upon the top of an upright piano - 

I gazed upon the treasury of vinyl - 

I imagined dancing to the music of one of the wild bands - 

Richard remembered the first time he watched Forbidden Planet with his dad and his uncle - 

Outside, twilight fell - 

20.30

Wednesday June 3 2015

Pie and Vinyl

Southsea  

Tales of Strange Doings ...

After cappuccinos and Americanos in Casa de Castro, Richard and I walked down Albert Road to Adelphi Books - 

We'd talked about the Hangers Way - tomorrow, we will walk from Alton to Hawkley - I looked forward to entering a world of hollow lanes - 

On the way to Adelphi Books, I saw a duck mask in the window of a fancy dress shop - 

The bookshop was empty save for the two of us - the proprietor looked out from his nest of Arrow paperbacks - 

I thumbed through Uncharted Seas and Shafts of Fear - 

Light streamed in through the doorway over a scree of books - 

I bought a biography of Augusta Leign - 

Later, we might drink dark ale in The Hole in the Wall - 

17.58

Tuesday 2 June 2015

Wheatstone Road

Southsea

Hampshire 

Eating raspberries and ice cream ...

Anne helped my mum with the casserole today - 

My mum calls it soup - 

Just before we sat down to eat, my Aunty Anna called - her daughter, Joanna, was with her - 

My mum asked after her brother Bern - 

Bern lived in a ponderosa on Portsdown Hill - he'd been a scaffolding king - 

Joanna said she'd been staying with her mum for respite - 

My husband's on oxygen, twenty four hours, permanent Joanna said - 

My mum found a photograph of herself with three of her sisters, Dot, Maureen and Anna - 

Yes, you look very much like my sister Anna my mum said - 

Dot's husband, Polly, had been buried in his British Legion blazer - 

My dad said it's quarter to twelve, I'll have my can - 

He drank the Tanglefoot like a weathered mariner his daily grog - 

When Anna and Joanna had gone, we ate the casserole, followed by a desert of raspberries and ice cream - 

My dad eyed the raspberries with icy suspicion - 

C'est la vie he said - 

12.30

Monday 1 June 2015

Staunton Road

Havant