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KingFisher morning

9/7/2017

12 Comments

 
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A new poem still under 'construction'. I have recently moved my lovely battered old boat 'Emeline'  down to Cropredy on the Oxford Canal. I have dreamed for years about having a narrowboat and this dream is one of the lucky ones that when achieved is all that it is supposed to be. For my money there is no better way to see the wonderful arcane, mysterious place that is England than pottering along at the steady pace of BMC engine chuntering to itself.

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It was a Kingfisher morn,
A low mist, the lingering breath of a summers night,
Hung like a ragged eiderdown upon dark waters,
Before evaporating at the new day’s calling
Leaving the canal dappled in the shimmering light
Falling through willow.

As Emeline, steady and measured and awake
Moved to the call of heavy horses whose
flickering feathered remembrance lingered in the hedgerows
​And ducked under the swing bridge from field to cow


A Kingfisher morn,
a dominion of sorts,
Where the
Capdockin and Flapperdock, the names of old England
As much as the church on the hill and site of the mill,
Stand rhubarb proud at the border, a raggle-taggle audience
To the sublime.

And in the sour green depths of the lock – whose out stretched arms
Wait for the Fisher King, the luscious waters ooze
That all may be healed and transported.

These are halcyon days in the unreliable summer,
of the Damsoiselle fly flitting in ultramarine for the fluttering of brief romance
Dandling in the air amongst the white dog rose and the azure flax
And fussy moorhens and scolding Mute Swans.

When around us, the fields of Oxfordshire
Unbound and close to paradise
Rose expectant and ruddy
Into a time of exuberant flourishing
Flush with the joy of sunlight

​An anthem for the vanishing King.
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12 Comments
Simon Crosse
9/7/2017 03:05:54 pm

I love it.
'Rhubarb proud' Wonderful.
Some fantastic imagery.
An evocative internal music and the chug chugging rhythm of a slow barge journey through the Oxfordshire countryside.

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SteveB
9/7/2017 03:16:12 pm

Thank you Simon - Emeline is a wonder !

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Cilian Fennell
9/7/2017 07:25:52 pm

Beautiful poem Steve. really captures the essence of the canal- "unbound and close to paradise". Keep on chugging...

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steve
9/7/2017 09:49:33 pm

Thank you Cilian, I am just a bit besotted with living on the water :)

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Linet Arthur
11/7/2017 07:06:10 pm

Looking forward to meeting Emeline. Great poem.

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steve
11/7/2017 09:36:58 pm

Thank you Linet - always welcome x

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Judith Crosse
15/7/2017 09:32:32 am

Timeless quality of a moment caught
Making the ordinary extraordinary
A toast to Emeline

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Steve
15/7/2017 10:18:10 am

That's beautiful- thank you ! X

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Graham Pickett link
17/7/2017 10:04:04 am

Fantastic u have arrived at Cropredey the best folk music 🎶 festival ever. All Fairport best Convention fans will envy you. Tickets for next year will no doubt go on sale soon so book early and enjoy the fabulous atmosphere and fantastic music 🎶 I hope the weather this winter will be kind to u and your boat ❤️

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steve
17/7/2017 10:18:20 am

Indeed it is Graham - and I shall be going. Also Peggy is an old friend and played on my last album the Murmuring of Thieves.

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Caroline Gammon
5/8/2017 03:10:35 am

A beautiful poem - an escape to paradise on the waters of the Oxfordshire canal where nature engulfs us in its simplicity and beauty.

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Steve
5/8/2017 11:09:00 am

Thank you Caroline, a beautiful comment.

Reply



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    ​Psychologist
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    Wide brimmed hat. Long dark coat. Guitar slung on back. 21 years on the road. A 100,000 miles and half a thousand hotel rooms. From the Berlin Wall to Atlas Mountains, from Sahara Desert to the streets of Hong Kong: a memory brewed in the long simmering soup of people and place. A man who has learned to watch and to listen, to walk and talk in the ebb and flow of meeting and parting. He is a chronicler of the human spirit in words and music.


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