Here we can shelter

Out of the rain, but we can’t

Escape rising floods

As days grow longer

Snowdrops snatch the open sky

While they have the chance

Stuck at the start line

Jumping for the lowest branch

Falling back again

Holly leaves turn sharp

When they are cut back or grazed

I try to stay calm

Milky fog drags past

Tangled briars can’t hold it back

I pull myself through

Stream seep, soak, settle

Splash slip, slide, slope, squeeze, shimmy

Slap, scrape, scratch, scurry

Chase these bouncing tails

Between heather, broom and gorse

Meanwhile time has flown

Have I left behind

The path I once set out on

Is this circle full?

Long layers of light

Draw us deeper down the dell

Chase shadows away

The heart of the hedge

Wings beating while winds bleeding

Curl up tighter still

Sharpened sky sketches

Scratch shaky skeletal skulls

Sullen sounds shimmer

If it’s not tied down

Wind scatters and shakes around

I’m holding my ground

Feathered edges creak

While from such a tiny beak

Ringing volumes speak

If I scale the ivy

And nest among the branches

Would I see further?

A life without words

No questions, no opinions

No contradictions

Each mind is tangled

Entwined in contradiction

Never unravelled

A hole in the hedge

A riddle without a rhyme

To cast alongside

The sun rose on snow

Kindles sparks of a new hope

Should I remain cold?

Twisted limbs tangle

Navigate in triangles

Harmonies jangle

Below the frost line

Worms and caterpillars hide

Waiting for sunshine

Fragments of skyline

Prism into primitives

Personal puzzle

The horizon line

Creates a cold harsh divide

I’m on the outside

Though the pool’s muddy

My reflection is clearer

Than when it was ice