MARCH
Month of the Winds ambushed by sudden snow
Wind moon Chaste Lenten moon Vernal equinox
Time of change. Spring begins.
We stand on the soil, feel life stir beneath and around us.
Small birds, sparrows, make nests, all birds grow intent and sing.
The distance we have travelled, we know ourselves better.
Rain runs down gutters, chatters up possibilities, lifts,
fills small pools where frogspawn glitters.
March – time of weather:
March, month of ‘many weathers’ wildly comes
in hail and snow and rain and threatening hums
and floods…
(from John Clare’s The Shepherd’s Calendar 1-3)
photo Rose Cook
‘Fresh Start: A Shepherd’s Calendar’ (pub Hen Run, Grey Hen Press 2021)
available £4 plus p&p from Rose at rosecook108@gmail.com
Rose Cook 