Sue Chadd

Sue is a poet and storyteller who grew up on the Welsh Borders and now lives in Wiltshire. Her work has been described as ‘close to the mythic edge of the land, strong in spirit, invigorating as salt winds’.

Diary 2015

April and the
great hairy rush,
polypody and harts-tongue,
suck from sodden earth.

Liquid songs of blackcap
reverberate through throats
of oak and hazel,
green as those unfurled leaves,

intent upon crowding sky
from canopy. Moss and
liverworts gentle winter-cracked
coats of beech and alder,

and the river runs black
against windflowers,
crazy angels
mobbing the banks.

Lichens draw slow flowers
in charcoal and umber,
leopard marking the rocks
like cast off seal skins,

and all the time
the water girl,
feet in the current,
feels the flow uncurling
like a fern between her toes.