November poetry walk

I have never explored the dunes in November, but I will be doing just that on Sunday 10th November. Every visit to the Sefton coast has been full of surprises, so until then I can only imagine what I might discover. The same is true of poems. I can set off feeling I don't have a poem in me, until I am reminded that the landscape is full of poems and I just have to stop, take notice, and capture what I can.

If you would like to join me, I'll be starting from the Ainsdale Discovery Centre at 2pm. You might already be interested in writing or looking for ways to kick-start your creativity. There will be no plan, just time spent exploring the tracks through the dunes and some possible paths into poetry. Bring a notebook in case you are inspired and be prepared for whatever weather decides to turn up!

You can email me at hm.skytree@gmail.com to let me know to expect you, or just turn up.

What had seemed so solid

What had seemed so solid falls away

seeds loosen pulled on threads along winds

plump leaves thin and collapse around their spines

flowers dry into tangle-dotting knots

New gifts appear in the spaces

tiny lizards freed from their spirited eggs

bask in low sun, stalks brandish new colours

flagging change across a mutable blue

What we think we know can easily crumble

and suddenly feel as fragile as shells broken

into sand. Yet sand becomes essential

transfigured by the lizards into wintering burrows

6th October 2019