MOON BARK



I was inspired this evening by a beautiful image of silver birch trees on the lovely facebook page 'The guardian of the woods'. It took me back to the garden, where I would wander up the path stopping at the silver birch. Treading over the undergrowth, avoiding brambles and nettles I would lean on the tree and feel its gentle sway as it moved in the wind. 


MOON BARK

The winding path curves stone edged,
cutting sine waves though deep shrub,
semblance of a green fingered order
long lost as nature reclaims the garden,
urban space wilding into glorious tangle;
spiked brambles coiled like wire wool,
whippy grass stalks bolt head high,
cruel nettles guarded by velvet dock,
spiralling ivy, tendrils curling, 
soft as ringlets in toddler hair.

The ghost child skips by my side,  
sailing pirate ship on wooden frame,
sculpting oxbow lakes in sand pit,
digging cream potatoes plucked
from earth like hidden treasure.
Trample winter oak mulch to
lean together in remembrance,
souls soothed by gentle sway of
silver birch, gifting shavings of
wafer bark, precious as moonlight. 
 


© 2018 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved. 




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