Walking the Ghost
On the windy winding way I hear
trees crying their autumn tears
while clouds hang like childhood fears
and my breath smoke signals half-ideas.
It comes to me fleetingly then goes
amid the laughter of the crows
that face from shadowed ages gone
each step takes me further from.
Magpie watches my approach
mock indifference until I get close
then ignoring my salute, takes wing
oblivious to its sorrow’s sting.
A chill hand pushes me forward
invisible, inevitable, ignored
until there is time for thought
of needful things, lost and sought.
***
Note: lines 2 and 3 have been skittering about in my head looking for a suitable resting place for a couple of weeks and line 1 is a nod to Kate Bush. the image is a doctored version of one I took earlier in the year while on a trip to Norway – the foliage was green and the sky blue. ‘Walking the Ghost’ is a song by UK indie group James and popped into my head once I had written down ‘walking the path’ in my Haynes Desk Diary I’m still using for notes this year.
couchmagpie 