lotusinthemud

smallstone 16

head bent low

he trails behind her

at full extent of lead

as if to make the walk eight feet shorter

his gait resigned

 he places black paws

with reluctance on the grey and glassy ice

#smallstone 16

#smallstone 12

a lone photographer
rests carbon-fibre tripod
on ancient carboniferous wall

#smallstone 12

#smallstone 11

we sweep round the bend to see
blood red
sun sinking
behind highest western peaks
sprinkled with snow
and topped with towers of cloud

#smallstone 11

#smallstone 10

flotilla of swans
upended
searching out squirming
sustenance
in lake bed mirk

#smallstone 10

#smallstone 15

tentative on untouched snow
crack or crunch, no, more like distant gunfire
we, the elderly or wobbly
share our rueful smiles
then eyes swiftly downward
to assess the next footstep

#smallstone 15

#smallstone 9

sun sinks on the city skyline

up here I watch Earl Grey

atop his pedestal

he suggests

'time for tea'

 

#smallstone 9

he deigns to accept worship

change of routine
I sup alone
he knows the buddhists are coming
he bounds before me up the stairs
where, adoration expressed
obeisances made
he'll stalk to the door
flag tail aloft

#smallstone 8

#smallstone 7

there's a village - there - over there -
across the valley
where, at night, lights,
strung like necklace

today, in mist,
homes, hillside
do not exist
save in my memory

#smallstone 7

#smallstone 6

pearl grey smoke
desultory diagonal meander
melds with mist - dense
low cloud obscuring
fellside, village, all
save these ghost trees

#smallstone 6

#smallstone 5

beneath me
soft rug, mottled
cream, beige, brown, grey,
like beck-bed pebbles

upon it nestles curved white feather -
angelic visit?

#smallstone 5