The first time I read a poem by Alice Oswald I was deep in the countryside; in my imagination. She took me away from the bookshop where I stood in front of the poetry shelf, running my fingers along the slim spines, waiting to be tempted, to stand in a woodland deserted of people. It says something about my own need for nature that her words drew me in so effortlessly.
Alice Oswald [photo Pako Mera]
‘Footfall, which is a means so steady
And in small sections wanders through the mind
Unnoticed, because it beats constantly,
Sweeping together the loose tacks of sound
I remember walking once into increasing
Woods, my hearing like a widening wound.
First your voice and then the rustling ceasing.
The last glow of rain dead in the ground’
Read these other excerpts, and perhaps find a new poet to love:-
‘After a row’ by Tom Pickard
‘Poems’ by Ruth Stone
‘Digging’ by Seamus Heaney
And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
A #poem to read in the bath: ‘Woods etc.’ by Alice Oswald https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3g8 via @SandraDanby
sandra danby 