Oh to be among the pines
And hear the elemental rushing of the wind:
Earth-based waves lashing the forest, crashing and fading
When the branches sway twigs bruising twigs,
Like pebbles that grind along the shore as waves retreat through shingle:
Calming, but with a sense of danger.
Poem and photo copyright Englepip©
Photo by Englepip©
You would think there were giant skulls
Awkwardly rising from the grassy edges of the field,
Combatants of Saxon times,
Reawakened by the late summer sun,
Reviving to drink afresh the air
Of evening on the chalk Downland and
To march again along the dusty ancient droves
To battle.
But if they are skulls, they are marred,
By scars cut deep into flesh and bone
Sores of ancient battle
As warrior hacked warrior to the death.
But reality is equal to imagination
Both Exceptional
And the Giant Puffballs are a marvel of nature
Huge and resounding to the thrumming
Of your hand, like ancient drums
Yet also so delicious and nutritious that
Even the snails have eaten through the flesh
and the deer nibbled to the innards
Of this exceptional, gigantic, gastronomic delight.
Photography by Englepip©
One leaf falling
Down through the bright blue sky
Tinged with amber and Autumn golds
Just one leaf falling.
Colours of the refiner’s fire
Rising, falling and twisting
Into a fickle wind blowing,
Only one leaf falling.
Losing hold on what held life together
Surrendering to uncertain times.
But only one leaf falling: for now.
But if one leaf falls after another
Losing grip on the life-giving tree
To face the full harshness of winter
Will they lose the good
To fall free?
Or will they just follow unthinking
Like sheep who know not what to do?
Or is falling always a part of
What happens to find what is true,
So it can rise up in the future
Like a phoenix from ashes to skies?
Just one leaf falling:
But where will it land?
Englepip's World 