ILSTON WOOD

by Byron Beynon

Returning again to the footpath
we followed it through the wood,
sounds of a nearby stream,
a fluidity of notes and fresh tones
for our breathing shadows,
alert to the surviving senses all around.
The sculpted faces of the trees,
with nature's canopy
wide-awake under which to meet
a memory of something real,
spreading towards a darkening green.
Swallow holes, summer banks,
birds we could not see,
with wild flowers rewinning the landscape;
this threatened gallery
where history blends
with the vital air,
a secret undergrowth
waiting patiently,
the way through
trodden by the ages
that brought us here.