photo Rose Cook
The silence of pines
On a hot day they offer shade
though I have always noticed them,
a stand of tall pines.
To be in their shadows
such silence,
sanctum.
Dense grass, a scattering of cones,
high in the crowns a wish of breeze
where bees dance,
down here though
the gift
is deep silence.
Rose Cook
photo Rose Cook
June – time of blossom:
Now summer is in flower and nature’s hum
is never silent round her sultry bloom
insects as small as dust are never done
wi’ glittering dance and reeling in the sun…
(from John Clare’s The Shepherd’s Calendar 1-4)
JUNE
Month of the Summer with longer nights.
Moon of horses Dyad moon Strawberry moon Summer Solstice
Buzzards learn to fly. Dragonflies flash.
Sunflowers open. Wheat ripens. Soft fruit time.
To roll a strawberry in the palm of your hand is to hold the weight
of so many weeks of sunshine, earth and water.
Iris, butterflies, rose.
Time of garlands, floral dancing, midsummer weddings.
In the fields, sheep seek shade, tuck together along hedges and shadow.
( An extract from June in my new book ‘Fresh Start: A Shepherd’s Calendar’ costs £4 and is available from me at rosecook108@gmail.com or info@greyhenpress.com )
May – time of hawthorn:
Come queen of months in company
wi all thy merry minstrelsy
the restless cuckoo absent long
and twittering swallows chimney song…
(from John Clare’s The Shepherd’s Calendar 1-4)
MAY
Month of the Hawthorn
Hare moon Milk moon Bright moon
Peonies bloom short glamour.
The birds sing fiercely and loud.
In the dusk blackbirds fill the air with song.
We wear lighter clothes. Cotton hats.
The air is sweet, thick with insects.
Listen to their under whisper.
Frogs have begun to chorus.
Time to find wild herbs flowering.
The hawthorn blooms call us to Maying.
Fertility dances around.
( An extract from May in my new book ‘Fresh Start: A Shepherd’s Calendar’ costs £4 and is available from me at rosecook108@gmail.com
or order from: info@greyhenpress.com )
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 