Musings from Kingcombe
A series of poems written during the VINE "Nature beyond Science" course at Kingcombe in April 2007:
The Martin's Return
In a pause in conversation the house martins arrive,
Above it, from beyond it, in the stillness of the sky.
We did not share their journey, but witnessed their arrival,
And shared with them their moment, of joy and celebration.
Kingcombe 22nd April 2007
On Hearing the First Cuckoo
Through the engine’s interfusion,
The calling of the first cuckoo,
Increasing as the distance gathers,
Winning through, becoming, being.
The moment when the song won through
The engine faded,
And I was truly there.
Kingcombe 21st April 2007
In Search of an Early Wood White Butterfly
Sudden, in a quiver of an distant foundling birch leaf,
Reflecting white light only in the echo of the moment
Of an unseen gust of April breeze,
Dances the vision of an insect yet to fly,
In an unseen springtime sky, before the rightful time,
Miss-seen in actuality, yet almost true in image,
And welcome in the mind.
From Kingcombe Meadows
Let us stray together, inside the breeze-blown sunlight,
Between the opening and seeding of dandelion time,
Where blackthorn petals, back-lit, begin to fall,
Between the natal now and ever-ageing then.
To be, not do, and thereby feel within
The unheard pause before the blackbird starts to sing.
Let words flow free, primed vivid by the urgency of life,
Between the varied tiers of meaning, yours and mine,
Where cuckoo flowers and cuckoo calls, the same,
Between the moment and the passing of its loss.
To hear, not speak, and so breathe within
The meanings hidden deep inside the transience they bring.
Let thought explore, diminished by no scudding distant cloud,
Between the windflowers and their rose-bud hues,
Where orange-tipped wings of whiteness search
Between their fervency for what they have not lost.
To dance, with them, and therefore be within
The far eternity of love that is forever always spring.
Kingcombe 22nd April 2007
Title: Musings from Kingcombe
Author: Matthew Oates
Date: 27 Apr 2007
