are the daffodils too bright?
does anyone ever want to cut down a tree?
-the silver birch hunks wait disconsolately by the road
does someone practice their call over and over, is it some sort of training?
is that waving leaf on long stem flagging the fleeing moves of a mouse?
and yes, that was a grass snake sliding into sun in a deep hedge
and is it first of the year?
That moss peak in the dull meadow, a minuature bog man's lair?
an open door, wet bootmarks near the barn the only place still dewed
heart attackingly close, two birds fall out of the roof above my head
battering ram noise as they fight, then burst apart
fly off in a rampage
I was getting inside the rhythm of the continually shouting voice
how can it call so often?
is it to a sheepdog, or calling for a lost dog over and over
I am beginning to think so
the voice is clearer 'Tilly'
and finally I meet the caller
a blue grey whippet he has been calling for two hours
he hopes she is somewhere in the woods
but a held desperation accompanies the seesaw call
two hours he says
and sorry to disturb
