A trip to Exmoor

I went to the sea and asked for a storm.

Boulders rumbled in the swell.

I sat piling stones

While the wind over the waves said

Sshhh, Sshhh, Sshhh.

Entering the forest, trees clustered round my restlessness.

Birds flew to the treetops.

I fled, gasping for breath

While the wind over the leaves said

Sshhh, Sshhh, Sshhh.

I climbed to a ruined tower, hesitating before its emptiness.

No creature challenged the silence.

I waited in the shadow

While the wind, reaching into grief, whispered

Sshhh, Sshhh, Sshhh.

Snatching my restlessness, a stream hurled it against rocks.

Ferns and mosses caught the spray.

I turned to the high moor

While the wind over the water said

Yes, yes, yes.

Reaching the high moor, I asked for nothing.

Bees hummed amongst heather.

My heart eased, restlessness passed.

While the wind over the hills fell silent

Having nothing more to say.

David Russell

August 2008