In memory of

As dusk falls
the hills fade
into rolling
infinity

Down
from the heights
of the chalken
escarpment

Like so many
waves
of armed
humanity

Tumbling
over wire
ditches
in fire

Down
from the heights
to the depths
of oblivion

To the river
flowing
unchangedly
to the sea

The fields
yet yield
a harvest
of iron

The fields
yet hold
those who
were never found

The memorial
starkly stands
high on the
chalken escarpment

The fields gently roll
to the river below
in memory of
those lost at the Somme

Longest day

On the longest day

my longing is longest

for what can never

return

A fortnight later marks

the beginning of

what has now

ended

Going forward

looking back

you'll stumble over

the future

Forget I shall not

but the book is closed

it continues

in me

Chi mi'n Tir

Chi mi'n Tir,

I'm playing it again - I see the land.

From afar, the Hebrides call me.

And back I shall come.

Following the light north

Until it's a beacon

at the nadir

of the night

Beckoning

septentrionally

attracted

to the pale skies

Ancient rocks

rising up out of

the wild untamed

untamable Atlantic

From whence many

left

for all time

never to return

Where many

return

lured thither

by unseen bonds

Chi mi'n Tir

I see the land

from beyond

the distant horizon