Nicholas paton Philip
Loch Whinyeon on St Stephen’s Day 2004
Winding road hits heather moor land
Slow car skids over treacherous ice
Sinking sun like muffled firebrand
Virgin snow sparkles to entice
I leave a trail of messy tracks
And stride across the open mound
As the fading light retracts
Casts shadows of the waggy hound
I stop to add a stone to pile
A moment to mark in silence
The fact we are apart awhile
Makes that distance seem so immense
I amble over final brow
Where hidden secret lies concealed
Private full moon bleeds stunning show
On rippled water now mauve revealed
I pause to still my mind so soft yet raw
With thoughts adrift of Eastern lands
Where nature erupts from her core
With ravaging of helpless strands
The giant wave from fractured plates
Sweeps all away with scant regard
Corpses fester as water abates
Families struck dumb in every yard
Can I hold your rounded beauty
In the face of cold destruction
Can our hearts with helpless pity
Bring tidal love of transformation
I gently make a sad descent
And place more stones to keep in mind
These fragile threads so cruelly rent
From them our future hangs entwined
© Nicholas Paton Philip
Page(s) 35
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