Lines
amid fern and bracken
the rill sings
of metal bridges, reservoirs aligned
pylons overhead,
lines crackle
and fizz, the overheard
now keep silent
on the emptied path
in the heron’s eyeline
near the half-seen shore
find an outfall
instead of falling
and a carpet of cornstalks
awave in the breeze
watch as she emerges
from the shallows,
mere shadow of black cotton lines
merging into white skin
at watersedge
and later,
the picture fading
from maiden to phantom,
pines creak and sway:
soft bark,
stripped light
[words and images from a morning walk at Torduff and Clubbiedean Reservoirs and beyond, Monday 17 July 2023.]