Today's poet

[Harry H Howgill]

It was one of those magical days that I know I'll look back on when I'm old. The sunset was the most beautiful I've seen this year and the cake the sweetest I've tasted!

I wish I was there.

[stevefoster]

To all fellow fell poets and Anniversary Waltz entrants...I recced the race on Thursday and I can report that a) it is very beautiful b) it is going to be a lung buster but I reckon we'll all make it. It was thick glistening snow on the tops and my feet sent tiny little snowballs careering down the descents.

Merry, thanks for your wise words regarding the above. You are right - its going to be a day in the fells and that's what is important...running, walking or however we do it.

My pleasure, it is a beautiful and inspiring area, love staying at Braithwaite and running around Causey Pike, Coledale Horseshoe and Anni Waltz routes, if i ever win the lottery i'll be buying a big house there with grounds for those who wish to camp, everyone welcome and no fees to pay, no noise after 10pm though!

[Hes]

Are you taking orders?!

Ha ha...I have a freezer full of last years soft fruits and so I may be supplying people with jam in order to make space for this years produce. I give so much away but I still end up with a surplus. I'm snowed under with onions and shallots and now potatos.

Woman on Twenty-Second Eating Berries
by Stanley Plumly


She's not angry exactly but all business,
eating them right off the tree, with confidence,
the kind that lets her spit out the bad ones
clear of the sidewalk into the street. It's
sunny, though who can tell what she's tasting,
rowan or one of the serviceberries--
the animal at work, so everybody,
save the traffic, keeps a distance. She's picking
clean what the birds have left, and even,
in her hurry, a few dark leaves. In the air
the dusting of exhaust that still turns pennies
green, the way the cloudy surfaces
of things obscure their differences,
like the mock orange or the apple rose that
cracks the paving stone, rooted in the plaza.
No one will say your name, and when you come to
the door no one will know you, a parable
of the afterlife on earth. Poor grapes, poor crabs,
wild black cherry trees, on which some forty-six
or so species of birds have fed, some boy's dead
weight or the tragic summer lightning killing
the seed, how boyish now that hunger
to bring those branches down to scale,
to eat of that which otherwise was waste,
how natural this woman eating berries, how alone.

[Hes]

I had my own surprise today. We took Cam to Chester zoo and guess which were his favourite animals? I bet you don't get it.......The bats! I nearly didn't bother taking him in as I thought he'd be petrified in the dark, but no, he loved it.

Sounds brilliant HHH. Were they Fruit bats? I love bats and my mum used to be a bat warden.

[Stolly]

To all fellow fell poets and Anniversary Waltz entrants...I recced the race on Thursday and I can report that a) it is very beautiful b) it is going to be a lung buster......

Up the side of Robinson
Just a little scramble
2,000 feet of ‘sheer’ fun
Make those thighs tremble

[Hes]

My pleasure, it is a beautiful and inspiring area, love staying at Braithwaite and running around Causey Pike, Coledale Horseshoe and Anni Waltz routes, if i ever win the lottery i'll be buying a big house there with grounds for those who wish to camp, everyone welcome and no fees to pay, no noise after 10pm though!

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and your lottery win! I'd definitely come and camp and I promise I'll keep the noise down...just a quiet run beneath the stars before snuggling in my sleeping bag. I'm hoping to get back up to that area again soon, it is so beautiful.

[Harry H Howgill]

Ha ha...I have a freezer full of last years soft fruits and so I may be supplying people with jam in order to make space for this years produce. I give so much away but I still end up with a surplus. I'm snowed under with onions and shallots and now potatos.

Woman on Twenty-Second Eating Berries
by Stanley Plumly


She's not angry exactly but all business,
eating them right off the tree, with confidence,
the kind that lets her spit out the bad ones
clear of the sidewalk into the street. It's
sunny, though who can tell what she's tasting,
rowan or one of the serviceberries--
the animal at work, so everybody,
save the traffic, keeps a distance. She's picking
clean what the birds have left, and even,
in her hurry, a few dark leaves. In the air
the dusting of exhaust that still turns pennies
green, the way the cloudy surfaces
of things obscure their differences,
like the mock orange or the apple rose that
cracks the paving stone, rooted in the plaza.
No one will say your name, and when you come to
the door no one will know you, a parable
of the afterlife on earth. Poor grapes, poor crabs,
wild black cherry trees, on which some forty-six
or so species of birds have fed, some boy's dead
weight or the tragic summer lightning killing
the seed, how boyish now that hunger
to bring those branches down to scale,
to eat of that which otherwise was waste,
how natural this woman eating berries, how alone.

It took me a while to suss out that the 22nd referred to the street name. I was thinking the 22nd of what? March? Her 22nd helping? I'm a tad slow tonight.

I've been saved by blackcurrents on the side of the road before now when I bonked on my bike coming back over Kirkstone Pass.

[Hes]

Up the side of Robinson
Just a little scramble
2,000 feet of ‘sheer’ fun
Make those thighs tremble

Nice one Stolly, my calves were burning going up there on Thursday! Then I had a scary descent over ice and snow...going to have to work on my nerves and perfect the hurtling descending techniques needed by a good fell runner.

[stevefoster]

I had my own surprise today. We took Cam to Chester zoo and guess which were his favourite animals? I bet you don't get it.......The bats! I nearly didn't bother taking him in as I thought he'd be petrified in the dark, but no, he loved it.

Glad to hear it Harry, my kids are batfans too, i was of the same mind as you but they loved it at Chester Zoo.
Just realised i made that rhyme without trying

[Harry H Howgill]

Sounds brilliant HHH. Were they Fruit bats? I love bats and my mum used to be a bat warden.

The bigger ones were, but they also have the little ones that buzz round your head too. A bit unnerving at first.

I love seeing the bats round here on the summer evenings.