Summer Pilgrimage

Take the pathway east Where the toads and froglets feast At the yellow iris pool Beeches quiver, green and cool Reed and petal, black winged moth Poppy like a scarlet Goth Humming in the midgied breeze Insects seething in the trees Split tongued vetch and foxglove tower Ragged robin's ivied bower Speedwell, thistle, clover, birch Buttercups where sunbeams perch South dips downwards to the lake The way the hinds on hoof-toe make Pebbles, pockmarked, gnarled and pitted Water clashing, sandy gritted Heron, neck outstretched and grey Greets the otter in the bay Waves drop stitches on the shore Rotting trunk and mushroom spore Westwards to the waterfall Here's the way that's best of all Shamrock, bluebell, Tara's cave Creaking oaks, ache-filled and grave Cow-spit, dog grass, clover, fern Forget-me-nots at every turn Rowan, mole hill, docken leaf Fallen feather on the heath Northwards rising to the sky Where owl keeps a weather eye For tiny movements on the grass Where the changing seasons pass Thigh-grip foot tilt up the stair Leads to cloud and endless air