I wish
to measure my days
by the swallow's flight
the laverock's song
to contemplate
not the hour
but the season
to walk through summers
and winters, long
to feel the hand of Nature
on my shoulder:
the wheesht of grasses in the meadow
the susurration of leaves
the clack of steens
in the rushing burn
the feel
of soft lichen underfoot
these
are the true measures of time:
not the clock
but the moon and the stars
our small lives unfurling
like the fronds in the wood
let the sky and all that lies beneath
be how my life is understood
let the stars shine and the glens
be wild
let the pull of profit
loosen its grip
and let us be.
Ian Grosz
Ian Grosz is host of the Paperboats Writers Podcast. He co-edited Issue Six with Alex Nye and has short essays in Issues 2 and 5. His writing can also be found in Archipelago; Hinterland Nonfiction Magazine; and on The Clearing – Little Toller’s online journal of nature, landscape and place.