THE DART
JANUARY 2023
A DIARY EXTRACT: A DAY ON THE DART
In these icy, life-giving waters
My body cleansed
My hope restored
The rowers,
like the geese,
glide in blissful union.
A tribute
to the tributary
To the other way
The mindful way
Through the silence
nine poems forming
A myriad of emotions
This shared sense,
of what can be
Away from the stressors,
the familial perceptions,
the masks,
wounds,
non-stop needs.
Nine poems forming
An identity
naked of history
Free and wild
Like the ocean which awaits the Dart
A Willow tree
Weaving, sawing, bending
Alone and together
This work with our hands
A shelter
For when the rains return
A friendship
Typical of the territory
Not forged on common ground
but on a shared smile
a sense of the other
This impermanent tribe
A eulogy
to the function
of unfamiliar friendship
Napping like the cats
a pandemic of our own
For tired bodies
and weary souls
In the safety of the circle
We sit
Upstairs
Clinking, cooking, creating
The sounds of communion
of equal effort
open hearts
and conscious thought
This harmony begs the question
Who is the imposter who shares this vessel?
A day on the Dart
A timeless day on the Dart.
JANUARY 2020
THE RIVER DART
I think I’ve rather fallen for the Dart.
This priceless stretch,
from Totnes to the Trust,
where time and type hold no sway.
A home for wildlife and wild hearts,
Descending on Dartmouth, each with their own reason…
to pause.
The outside world cannot grab you here.
Stare into those weaving, winding waters.
The Dart offers no distractions,
just a mirror on the illusion of self.
Feel into the land
which flows alongside her.
Those grasslands,
and marshlands.
Woodlands,
and walkways.
Each alive with its own story.
One told to our ancestors,
another our offspring.
In unison and deference
to the many lives that dress the Dart,
sits a community.
A trust,
in name and deed.
Each week a new beginning,
versed in the ways of the Barn
by a few kind hearts.
Weaving a thread.
Creating a tapestry of unspoken connection.
A timeless, type-less community.
Dancing back from Devon,
with a newfound love of the Dart.
