Document 1400

Catfirth willow

Author(s): James Hiddo Moncrieff

Copyright holder(s): James Hiddo Moncrieff

Willow root moves
Slipping against wet shale
And the crumbling moor
Seeking a grip on the bedrock
The exposed edge of the burn.

Moved by ice and snow
And bitter wind
Willow, torn from its shallow root
In the last of Winter's gales,
Laid on its side
To nest in the grass. Amongst the fern

New buds burst from the bark
And rise above the bluebells
The white narcissi
And the remnant green of daffodil
As the tired branch
Dips its face in the peaty spate and froth
Of a swirling pool
Tumbling to the sea.

The voices of children played
Long into the night

The new cut grass
Sniffed at the breeze
And the sycamore stirred

The ghost of a seagull passed
Cutting the sky
With its silence

Midnight and the horizon
Still glowed
Despite the black iron
Of the hills
Cast against the cold face
Of the moon
And my steps
Were hollow footprints
On the path from the gate.

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Catfirth willow