Night Running

Running has taken a new form since the evenings have become so dark, even before six .

It takes ages to get ready – head torch , fluorescent jacket and nifty lights for the back of my ankles in green and red ( can never remember which way round for port and starboard)!

Once out – it’s great . Total freedom . I’m running slightly slower on account that I can’t really see far in front of my feet and the lanes are running in water. Tonight was a gentle 5.5 km. Despite heavy showers, I stayed dry – unlike yesterday when I got soaked over half an hour.

I am so thankful to feel safe running in the lanes.

Advent

Visitors bring their esoteric truths;
Friends their empathy’s are quickly shared;
Not one,but many, think by chance a country so could run.
What of these problems
Of the  year?
Maudlin talk from television screen
Broadcast hourly into every home;
When lockdown lifts this time tomorrow
New tiers to grasp
Wrangling in every sphere;
Oh to leave the record that is spun
To head outside into quiet stillness there;
To feel my feet on sodden winter soil;
The natural degradation of the year;
The rhythms that propel us through the seasons
By one who order out of chaos formed.
To Him we wait in patient expectation 
His advent how we need it so much more.

Islands of existence


Like an island chain-
An archipelago
Are we islands of existence?
Do our minds separate- 
Compartmentalise?
Hold onto secrets of the past 
Sailing to when we’re adrift?
Memories we return to
Like favoured holidays past?
Ferry crossings back and forth
Until we leave for good?
Or strands we take with us on our journey;
Connections, patterns,identities 
Drawn through time and space
Threads of gossamer tracing the stars
In laminar flow;
Those we love 
Those we meet
Those we pass 
A twinkling light
A warning flare 
Perchance we cross 
Or is it so? 
The chart  etched out in perfect ordinance 
Each choice is ours
Each decision
Freely given
To navigate those paths
With love.

      Woodland in Splendour

      Branches- pendulous and jewelled-
      Leaf dots of orange and yellow,
      Stippled against silvery papered
      Slender trunks;
      The birch- a key player on the woodland edge;
      Along the track we
      Descend steeply into
      The dense forest-
      Alight with fiery glow
      Above the wide smooth trunks of beech;
      A kaleidoscope of colour-
      Ambers and tortoiseshell-
      Vintage greens and golds
      Knit the canopy above
      Like fairy lights;
      Dense Holly 
      Statuesque below 
      Holds bright berries above 
      Glossy leaves
      The woodland floor
      Is carpeted by a
      Deep dry fallen leaves
      Bright limed fronds of ferns and moss
      Cling to the forest banks
      The purple smudges of whortleberries
      Are long gone 
      Glimpsed through broken foliage 
      Filigreed fingers
      Across the valley
      Where Bare trees
      Naked 
      Line the ridge 
      Their form with distinct shapes
      Textbook drawn.
      Woodland in splendour.