Poem by Sarah James (UK)

Photography by Dan Haynes (UK)

Published in The Ofi Press issue 42

Solstice

We wear each day’s aura                                                           

as a coat. Thin layers              
of sky, cloud, rain:

silks of blue, soft whites

or heavy hessian.

Earth and grass shoe us.

I choose dawn for my lips,

frost for party sparkle

and sunlight as warm

mantle for cold skin.                             

Sarah James

Inspired by Dan Haynes’ photo ‘God’s Rays’.

Pungent

Never before, this pain in not-knowing,
that need to fix names on things.

Not wildlife but great tit, starling, buzzard.
Not countryside – cowslip, ragwort, lamb’s lettuce.

All bird and plant to me; in varying beaks,
feathers and leaves. But he wanted the exact

passed down, as his Grandad did with him.
Still, only the magpie stuck with me;

a lone black and white, chattering.
And the once-sharing of wild garlic.

Found, out foraging, this lingers –
its scent as pungent as loss.