Wroth Silver 2024: The Knight Within the Low

They say
There is a knight
Within the low

A prince
Or warrior
From the old times

Burned bones perhaps
In an urn
Long gone down into the earth

Of dreaming sleep
The roots’ bed
A shroud made of soil.  

Maybe he is crouched
In a cist
Of local red stone

With his knees
Drawn up
To his chest

& his favourite
Flagon
Or a sword by his side

Maybe he wears gold
Around his arms
Or on his chest

We will
Never know
& cannot see.

Perhaps he senses us
As we all
Come & go

Back & forth
In the circles
Of our lives

In the sun-rain wheel
Of our years
& seasons

Footsteps on the path
Journeys
On the roaring road.

& when we gather
Can he hear us
Calling out?

Calling out the names
Of villages
He doesn’t recognise?

Paying
Wroth Silver to the
Land’s lord?

Meeting & greeting
Our friends & neighbours
On the wintry morning?

What would
He think of us
If he could see?

In our shiny
Winter gear
Hoods & boots?

Or hear us speak
Would he understand
A single word?

But I think that he would
Understand
Why we keep returning to this place.

Maybe he was born
& bred here
Or his people came from far away

Driven by strife
Through the stormy seas
That surround the island

Whatever his origin
Or life
Now he is our ancestor

By virtue of us
Gathering
At his grave

& whatever his or our origins may be
We the celebrants
Are no longer strangers to him

For we
Just as did he
Recognise the power

Of community.

 

 

My eleventh offering as the Wroth Silver Bard! It is a great honour & a pleasure. To read my previous Wroth Silver poems & find out more about this unique & ancient event follow these links:

http://www.wrothsilver.org.uk/
2014: Martinmas
2015: The Road of Time
2016: Wheel of the Year, Wheel of the Land
2017: Eight Decades
2018: Ghosts
2019: Throw a Penny in the Hollow of the Stone 
2020-21 Dear Ancestors
2022: The End of an Era
2023: In the Picture, Making History

The Art of Conversation with the Genius Loci Rides Again!

The Art of Conversation with the Genius Loci rides again!

In a down-to-earth and practical way it suggests ways for people to explore, find and make deeper contact with their own special places. There is also a very personal journey through the inner landscape of the mind and the book deals with various methods of dealing with the issues that outdoor meditation and magic are likely to bring up, including privacy, safety and protection for both the place and the person.

 

It's a pdf of 157 pages, updated & abridged. 

 

I originally said I'd make it available for a donation but I found a free way of making it downloadable for a small fee. It costs £6.99. (UKP)

If you can't afford that & are desperate to read it just get in touch. I hope that it behaves in your various readers. Please let me know, one way or another.

Entire chapters have been excised & some re-named. I have also updated some sections. This isn’t an academic text, so references are limited to a short Further Reading section at the end of each chapter. I’ve been advised to have a practical section at the end of each chapter, but to do that I’d have to re write everything. Besides, this is a very practical book! You’ll find practical suggestions on just about every page. However, to make it easy for you to find specific practices or advice I have made an Index of Practicalities, which you will find at the end of the book.

You can get it from here: https://payhip.com/TAoCwtGL and you can read about it's origins by clicking on the dedicated tab at the top of this page.

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Exquisite Without Having to be a Corpse

 Dionysian without being reckless
Exquisite without having to be a corpse
Wild without being terrifying
Enormous without being oppressive
Luminous without being obvious
Wise without being patronising
Loving without being nostalgic
Angry without being violent
Beautiful without being pretty
Perfect without being self conscious