Earth Pathways Showcase

what if this is my altar ?
no need to go inside
and light candles in a cold room
better to sit in the lengthening summer grasses
while birds and insects do the talking
follow flickering flight of damselflies
as they dance between grasses
and make short stops on leaves
near the water’s edge
honey bees move choosily from buttercup to buttercup
among daisies dock and sorrel
elderflowers flavour the air where
brambles reach out
their first flowers open
with the promise of berries
let this litany be my prayer
as herb robert droops a flower-tipped frond
onto my page
and an iridescent green-backed fly
lands like a blessing

What If This Is My Altar © Janey Verney 2022

after the long summer drought
my senses expand with the delicate rain
barely felt upon my head
as i pick september raspberries again

gently my fingers unfurl leaves
at the ends of tall canes
some bent over with the weight
of hidden fruits
waiting wet before they join
the mouldy ones i didn’t come for yesterday

i ease today’s ripe berries from their stalks
enough remain intact
to gift us a fragile lunch
soggy ones collapse
coat my fingers in delicious tangy juice

when the next strong shower
shoos me back indoors
i bend to pick up my punnet
surprised by the earth’s warmth
still rising through the grass to my hand

harvest lunch © Janey Verney

that which connects us doesn’t overwhelm
like the screen that lights up in your hand
beaming torrents of light and sound
from so many specific somewheres elsewhere
blotting out what’s here right now

that which connects us doesn’t take control
as when a film from a drone flown
above a landscape can bend around a corner
project the viewer out over a clifftop
and on into unsupported air

that which connects us waits
for a simple moment’s silence while you breathe
and the free place in your heart remembers
your soul always knows
the whiteness of spring petals under trees

its not about technology © Janey Verney

land luxuriates after rain
leaves expand
stems point towards the light
bees dance from flower to flower
scramble through pollen
on plate after plate of petals
humid air alive with their buzzing
cheeps and trills of birdsong
in ample foliage
fretful notes from moorhens on the pond

a young ash tree
stands stark against grey sky
eerie halo of empty twigs
around its green leaves
like a page a child stopped colouring in

summer rain © Janey Verney