Incoming I am not your enemy dear messenger,but still your intent feels murderous. And though your reckless, adrenalinefuelled passes and dopplered cries have sent these old instincts into fullflight mode, my head disappearing into my shoulders, my sixty year oldbody separated from my bicycle to lie expediently on this damp grassy bank,I cannot help but…
Category: Birds
Fledge
Dandelion Sun A child’s sun finds a dream in young eyes.In blinks of dandelion eclipses,refracted light reflects on retinasholding warmth in ragged leavesbelow a flower standing up and out. Ryegrass and foxtail for company,a golden head of petals,swaying and slight,is there and gone and there again. The wings of friends unfold to test the airwith…
Early Coffee
Early Coffee A mug steams in a frosty garden.By hedge of hawthorn, hazel and elder,wisps of gently snaking vapour disappearlike tired thoughts or a lost name.Hiding in the corner of a shed window,the act of observing a reflectioncauses mirrored shadows to change;sudden complaints from small birdsburst out and end abruptlywith the ghostly presenceof an early…
One Called Paul (revisited)
A few years ago, while cycling back home along a country lane from Kendal’s Saturday market, I was attacked. The assailant came out of nowhere, making an unearthly noise, causing me to fall onto the grass verge before she escaped over the fields. On reaching my destination, slightly bruised, I persuaded my wife to come…
Interview with BBC Radio Cumbria Summer 2020
I have uploaded an edited version of Helen Millican’s radio programme. In the show, we discuss Fledge and the inspiration behind the poems. The interview took place in Lady Wood, Grasmere, about 200 metres along the old coffin route from Dove Cottage in a typical Cumbria downpour under a magnificent beech tree with a torrent…
Fledge – two poems
Originally posted on The Poetry Village:
Today we celebrate the recent Maytree release, Fledge by Jonathan Humble. The collection of poems under the title ‘Fledge’ begins with a reflection on how a wild urban childhood and encounters with nature in adolescence have resonated in adult life. There is a strong nature theme running through the…
Jonathan Humble 