Freed from Distance

Lost airs may not be breathed again;

Prehistoric wind screams from the sand grain

A voice unheard save only by imagination's ear

That is to say, the physical moment is long gone

But there is a light which shone, which shines

Upon every surface, knows & was known

By every moment of movement, every memory,

Morning woke, translucent, always primal

But reflected innocent everywhere

And not an atom-instant of awareness

Does not beam forth save it is known by this;

Nothing is ever lost, the unique scent

Of the infinite present illuminates us all.

& you & I my dear seem small

So far apart in our respective worlds

But together our suns' volatiles will feed new earth-crusts

Where the storm wheel of life will turn again

Tides will revolve, seasons expand & contract

Hearts & thought gestures turn towards the inexpressible

Journey from mind to mind; shared nature's

Desert crossing, accomplished in an instant,

The strange attractor way-star's gravity

Draws us together, freed from distance.

A kiss across an abyss cannot be, but an abyss

Understood becomes a kiss.

Liopleurodon ferox

 rankopedia.com: “the most awesome animal of all time”


At the edge of the wood we hear the call
Of the dreaming land, the world-well
Felt weight of untold turnings
Of the season-wheel which bedecks all in green
But shall death-pluck it all in time to tell
Of unknown stories, measured in a meter of years.


& here we fare, swim bird-song summer air
Make our way between trees that seem
As if they were always so, but something calls;
Quiet, lying hidden beneath our paths
& sun & moonlit glades of pollen-rain
Where we make track & home & sleep again.


So we sink now into dark coils of land-memory
That carry us all; the waves of history
Rolling over secret depths unseen,
We sink now, dreaming of green strength;
The secret power of land-life, lost heat
Far beneath the surface of the Earth.


So we sink now & as we sink we’re turning
We’re turning North toward Holy Lindisfarne,
We’re turning East toward the great North Sea,
We’re turning South toward the rolling chalk downs,
We’re turning West toward Welsh volcanoes,
& down we trace the path of return:


So we sink now & as we sink we’re turning
We’re turning North toward mill-moor peaks of dark & light,
We’re turning East toward fens of secrets,
We’re turning South toward Rollright circle,
We’re turning West toward steep Malvern side,
Into the cavern of Earth’s millions of years.


We sink now, where root life seeks the treasure of earth-force
Where rain finds its way, water finds its level
Where mineral veins shine with atomic light
& the stone leans in its arch, slabbed & broken,
Hidden from the eyes of those who dwell above,
Mud-bed of ancient sea; wind, cloud & wave.


We swim in that sunlit sea; bird-like forms flit over
& She appears from gloom & She sings to us & She says:
“Come, come, come & swim with me!
Swim with me in the day-bright ocean of song!”
She has a voice like no voice you have heard,
& we dive & we sing & we follow Her beyond shallows.


Shoals of big-eyed strangers in their hundreds
Spiral about us, cloud about us, storm about us;
Flash in the light of the day of long ago
While all the colours of reef-life beneath
Spin & turn, waving strings & curled shells,
Long stalked eyes; bodies of gleaming coil.


We rise to the surface, breath ancient atmosphere,
Prehistoric wind whips waves at us
& far above our heads beyond the sky, in the future,
There is a wooded hill of juice, joy & wonder
Which calls to us & we’re drawn back up, forward
To the age of owls & insects, blue tits & badgers.


We walk together to sit at the forest’s edge; look out
Over the rich & peaceful land that is our home
Fields & hedges, woods & hills,
Rivers & pools, bogs & craggy steeps,
Towns & cities filled with dreaming people:
Beneath its surface, our land is filled with forgotten song.

In the Round House at Cranborne Ancient Technology Centre, Summer 2012