10/07/2009

SWELL WOOD by Julie Sampson

Framed out of the cut-out hide

little egrets gently rock their young

in heron nests high in ancient trees

as wind moves us

away

from the mainstream

down the winding path

to this Other –

a dimension rustling under feet

with secret dormice in

their hidden hazel thicket


we should turn back –

the busy road’s waiting

to scoop us in its flow


but something draws us on

away and

further down the track –


Enchanter’s Nightshade

lines the path – a Milky Way of daystars

like those white stones

from fairytale that led the children

to the cottage –


we must find the heart

the tick of the place

and talk of how a Circle

might lie in wait for us

round

that next corner

where the tree-giants

ash oak and lime –


may we

be changed –

our beat chime in time with the wood


- Watch us squirrel to the top

through the canopy and out

of the frame

to the sun


(Note: Swell Wood is on the Somerset Levels, ten miles east of Taunton)

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