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Wednesday 6 March 2013

A moment to savour.


I would have noticed it
had it been there before:
the small gap in the hedge
and the beginnings of a track
that runs off to the left.

The hedge is dogwood
and wild privet, drenched
with old man's beard.
And there are more
whose names I do not know.
An ancient hedge, to have
such wide variety.

Something or someone's forced
a new way through the hedge.
I follow suit,
snagging coat and trousers
as I go. Clearer now,
the track beyond.
It opens out.
Two could walk abreast,
but only just.

The path seem ancient, too;
is deeply grooved
into the chalk.
Millennia of feet,
perhaps, have ground it in.
The land on either side
slopes gently down;
was wooded once, now
bramble-covered,
sending trip wires
for the careless
across the path.
I watch my step.

I reach a stream,
the path turns, follows it.
And then the moment comes:
a cloud of butterflies
rise up from somewhere near
my feet. I am engulfed
by them, and by an icy,
ethereal blueness.
Pale and transparent in
the weak sun, fluttering
their eerie light
they move with me, follow
for a while, then vanish
as suddenly as they
had first appeared.

17 comments:

jual busana muslim murah 2013 said...

What a great idea! I love it. Simple and lovely article.

David Cranmer said...

That fraction of a beat when magic happens.

Brian Miller said...

nice....how cool....arent you glad you followed that path...and got caught up in that moment of magic...have had a similar experience...it was not butterflies...but similar...thanks for taking me back there....smiles...

Carl said...

a perfect title for this piece. I savoured every moment.

Manicddaily said...

Lovely - it feels like a dream really. k.

Ygraine said...

Oh how wonderful, Dave!
I was with you every step of the way on this adventure beyond the ancient hedge.
And I, too, was englfed in that icy ethereal blueness.

I loved every moment of this vivid adventure!:)

The Weaver of Grass said...

I want to walk that path Dave - very much.

Mary said...

Those moments, even though fleeting, are worth their weight in gold (or wings!) Nice write today, Dave.

Rachel Cotterill said...

Utterly transporting, magical - thanks :-)

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

Beautiful coincidence yes, your poem and mine finishing with a disappearance. This hedge" drenched with an old man's beard" and "millennia of feet" is just sublime.

Linda McGeary said...

Wow! That is really beautiful Dave. I had an experience with lady bugs that was like that. It is a mystical thing. Makes one hold their breath in amazement.
Once in a field of tall grass I saw yellow butterflies rise up on mass, shift and drop back to the grass. It was quite spectacular.
This is a lovely poem.
Thank you.

Cloudia said...

I already understood that you, too were one who found the secret opening in the garden wall that leads from the common path to a more ancient one. In my heart I call you Brother




ALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
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haricot said...

Words especially in a poem are so suitable to capture such moment. Very impressionable.

hedgewitch said...

Sounds like a walk with the faeries, David...but hopefully you came back to the same time and place, if a slightly different you than the one who left.

Elephant's Child said...

Oooh and aaah. That was simply magical. Thanks Dave.

Dave King said...

jual busana
Thanks for visiting and thanks for saying.

David
Great thought. Thanks for it.

Brian
Very glad I did, yes. It was a real Haiku moment and is very vivid still.

Carl
Thanks for saying so. Really good to hear.

Manicddaily
True. The butterfly moment was very dreamlike, and sometimes seems so when I recall it.

Ygraine
Great to have had you along. So good to know that you responded so. Thanks for saying.

The Weaver of Grass
Mmmm, thanks for saying so, but I did do it again, and it was not the same...

Mary
To some extent, I suppose it's their fleeting nature that helps to make them so.

Rachel
Thank yo so much for this.

Tommaso
I find it very gratifying that you should have picked out these two phrases.

Linda
Thanks for this, Linda. I agree with you that these experiences can be mystical. They take that sort of hold on you.

Cloudia
That is quite definitely the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a long while. I do deeply thank you for it.

haricot
Thank you. Good to know you think so.

hedgewitch
It's a thought - one I had not had, I must admit - that I might not have done!

The Elephant's Child
And thank you - so much!

Hindi Shayari said...

Really very nice poetry. I was searching for this kind of poem and finally in find it here. Really thanks a lot for sharing this.