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First Light

A Petrol sky etched with pinkish hue;
The muffled cockerel cry;
A hazy outline of moorland ridge;
The first calls of a thrush imbue.

Recumbent cows with their faces alight;
Shards from the eastern sun;
A lone calf wanders, stirring the herd;
Sharp cry of a blackbird in flight.

Conspicuous by its reddish form,
A deer runs back and forth.
Green juxtaposed against the golden grass
The hedge-lined fields adorn.

A gifted morning, a savoured treat
So often going unseen;
A hidden world- a rhythmic pattern;
Apposed lives chancing to meet. 

Ruth Partridge

Ode to the Blackbird

A truer sound there’s none
Than the blackbird’s call
Cutting through the still air
Of dawn. 
So pleased to see our migrant bird
Appear 
We’ve missed the familiar 
Black gloved thrush 
A few miles ago
As south in search of food they fly. 
Who might our visitor be?
He does not say,
Save that I hope
He’s a Swede or even Finn
Drawn from the cold north winds
To our South Western stream. 
Reassurance to know
Despite the mildness of our climate change 
The continuity is present
In this quintessential bird.

Renewal

Today,after a very foggy start to the day, my Painting For Mindfulness Group explored the theme of renewal looking at leaves through Neurographic art.

The bubbles represent water on the leaves – decay to new life through replenishment of the earth .

Autumn wraps itself around the house 
In a blanket of white
Holding it tight 
Punctuated by the robin’s hallowed voice
Too bright;

Fallen leaves
In patterned flight 
Press into the porcelain tiled floor 
Imprint 
And cling for life;
 
Spangled leaves of orange and lime 
Lie on the alter of  grass
In sacrifice
From day to night
Stolen light;
 
Stripped branches 
Fringed in fingered form 
Semi- clothed in muted hue
Nature’s plight
A poignant sight;
  
Through sinking air 
Energies drawn to the wet ground
Ignite 
Out of sight        
Renewal of the earth
In silent fight  
Spears decay to life.

Their Space, Our Space

Where we live 
Borrowed views 
Stretch  the imagination;
The thread of the lane over the hill, 
The upland ridge 
Or blanket of moorland fog;
Always aware of our windswept ride 
And the light of the Western sky. 

Unique 
Is the position of our home;
Though once those ancient stones 
Yielded 
No view,
Sparing the inhabitants 
Of the prevailing wind
That tunnels  though  ancient walls,
Rattling the roofs, 
Chanelling the rain through
The lightest of soils, 
Through to the slate beneath;
Aware, but sheltered from a windswept ride 
And the light of the Western sky. 
 
And our nearest 
Neighbours
(those who share our postcode)
See
It differently:
 
A patchwork  of fields,
Glimpsed
Through the hedge,
Flatter land,
Fields of Green,
Aware but hidden from our 
Windswept ride 
And the light of the Western sky 


Then there’s the lodge-
Reminder of finer things;
It breathes with the trees,
Enveloped  in beech
Cocooned by oak. 
  
Unaware of our 
Windswept ride
And the light of the  Western sky

And there’s a manor,
Though you’d never know; 
No signage
And Hidden from view 
In a dip;
Formality of planting
An ordered view 
An arboretum
Of plantsman’s finds;
Unaware of our 
Windswept ride
and the  light of the Western sky. 

And down to the village
Off the ridge
Into the Saxon wheel;
Moorland views
Of different kind
Deep valleys,
Deep ford,  
Sunsets 
Turneresque 
Under our  hill 
Aware of the windswept ride
And the light of the Western sky.  


We all live 
In the same place-
Geographically at least;
But each sees it 
Differently,
Determined by aspect.


Unique is our space 
Our own patch of ground
Open or sheltered
Our canopy 
Of sky.

Their space, 
Our space: 
Same but different,
All under  an Eastern and Western sky.

Light Under a Cloud

Like the tide running in 
The paint glides over the surface 
Twists are defined by one turn of the brush 
Deliberate and even 
Echoed above in the clouds 
And mirrored in the surface of the water 
Sharp lines and crisp edges
Follow contours and perspective
The tall masts of the wooden ship
Tower into the dark clouds 
The estuary runs to the sea
Light under a cloud 
Of wide strokes
Prussian blue and raw umber 
Combined
From monochrome to splash of red 
There was light under the cloud 
But not for long.
light under the cloud Topsham

I just loved painting this – it deserved a crisp graphic approach.

Amazed by Nature



Like the popping of a balloon,
A cloudburst, 
A torrent
Lash of rain
Whips the window,
Ricocheting  
Glass on glass; 
The droplets pound.

How can a drop,
Held in the palm of the hand,  
With its fragile  meniscus, 
Burst with such force?

We bathe in its softness;
The molecules slide over us;
We sip it smoothly,
Without harshness of swallowing.
Replenished,
Revived,sustained,
Grass is greened.

Paradox:
Life giving,
Life taking. 

Drenched fields,
Minerals leached,
Land slips,
Branches drop,
Waves surge,
Tides rise 
Floods.
Catastrophe. 

Creation’s power released.

Answered prayer…

Given in abundance.

I have watched the clouds over recent days and am fascinated by the change in the skies. This acrylic seascape captures the power of an impending storm but contrasts with the beauty of the shimmering sands.

Nature never ceases to amaze.

The house which tells a family’s story

Is it the tread upon the staircase, steep, uneven,
Recognition  instinctive to the one which makes a sound? 
Is it a feeling of those who’ve trod the steps before   
Echoing times of joy and merriement
in song?
I think I hear conversations seeping through the walls
Like whispers that cocoon this ancient space
Softness with comfort lingers 
Suggests I slumber its embrace.
 
Touching the rail,
I seem to place my hand in theirs; 
I feel the laughter; I sense the memories shared; 
From  chair,to windowpane the way the curtain moves, 
I feel the breath of dampness in the air.
My spirit gently eases in the  softness of caress
Safety and security in all I’ve ever known;
This thread of family history is truly blessed;
Generation on generation have called it home.

Dare I to lose the house which tells the story 
Break the strands that hold me fast? 
Yet memories stay secure
within the cerebral cortex 
Uniquely wired and coded so will last. 
I am known to the one who loves and cares, 
Whose ancestry spans the test of  time
Interwoven  with all we’ve ever loved
Held until completion finally  is  mine.

Today I visited a very special house of a friend