I’ve been keeping a ‘lookout journal’ for the last few months, so, for National Poetry Day, here’s a bit of it.

July
hedges and roadsides hang
swags of wild rose and honeysuckle
knapweed and bedstraw

boxes unpacked, all the books
safe on new shelves

the old family Bible
faded leather, records kept
since 1808

Rimmer, Oldroyd, Milne
handwriting hardly changed

by Calder Water
blackthorn, hemlock, meadowsweet
sun, bees, meadow brown

first garden berries
burning scarlet under leaves

covid and high pollen
dizzy, shaking, coughing all day
summer passing us by

August
the latest dark
a fox calls beyond the garden

dog day’s sun, hot glare
westerly breeze shakes the leaves
brings no breath of cool

rooflines of starlings
night sulks, waiting for thunder

September
rain, mud, cleavers seeds
harvest of brambles ripe and heavy
beyond my reach

marigold hooks brown
poppy heads swollen, seeds saved
and sowed. Autumn

the Queen is dead
long queues to see change coming

scent of vinegar
jam cooling in the kitchen
new season’s apples

October
equinoctial gales,
the house creaks and wavers