December 4th

Sleeping cormorants

fairy lights on the far bank

Orion’s display

I was out in London, the moon and lights on the South Bank shone over the Thames. And when I got home, Orion distinctively shone out of the dark sky.

October 29th

moonlight bathes the fields

wary beasts flat to the ground

owl shriek breaks the still

October 7th

 

Restless Little Owl

calls to Selene’s bright shilling

the oak slumbers on

There was an owl, probably in the oak, in the early hours. The moon, even though it wasn’t full, was bright. Shining right through the tree. I noticed my breath steaming for the first time this autumn. It’s getting cold.

August 3rd

touch gold for luck at

the sight of the full moon bright

her warm wedding ring

April 16th

A half moon and stars

memories incubating

in the wells dark depths

 

No spoilers, but Murakami’s “Wind up bird chronicle” is oppressively compelling.

March 26th

 

Aphrodites pearl

Ares chariot charges

Blood against the sky

 

I noticed a couple of friends on twitter / facebook suggesting going outside to have a look at the planets clear in the sky. And yes, there was Venus, massively bright, next to the quarter moon, Jupiter just below and higher up, Mars, twinkling pink/red. We walked to the edge of the moors where the light pollution would be less and although I’m not really a stargazer I have to say I was impressed.

Perfect for a haiku about Greek gods. Why Greek gods? Well, flippin’ Romans, what have they ever done for us? Coming over here, nicking our women, nicking our Gods….

March 8th

Fishermen at sea,

Walkers under Turner’s moon,

Illuminated.

 

Neil and Paul came up from London and we all walked to the pub for dinner. The full moon was rising in the sky, it pushed its face through the broken cloud. It reminded me of a JMW Turner painting. This painting was exhibited when he was 21, in 1796. “Fishermen at Sea”.

(from the Tate website)

Painting the wilds of the sky, the elements, the sea and the wide open landscapes was his strength. His later work, when it is suggested that his eyesight was failing is perhaps his most magnificent. The use of colour, the blur in the unique style giving an impression of movement, blinding light, heat or cold, is breathtaking. But this early piece is majestic too.

As for a photo of the moon from last night, here it is. Over two hundred years later, if you look up, the sky is comfortingly timeless.

March 7th

I am only real,

When the headlights burn my back,

Long shadow walking.

 

Was walking back from the station late last night, bar a timid moon peeking through the thin cloud, the route to Greenfield from the station passes down a particularly dark lane. Walking this route late at night, I feel invisible, I disappear with my music in the darkness. Or if I have no music, I listen for tawny owls, the distant barking of dogs, or freight trains, unbuffered, rattling onwards.

I only exist when an approaching car blinds me or when a car drives past me from behind. As cars approach, I observe my shadow, racing and striding ahead of me, a hundred metres long. Then as the vehicles pass, I disappear, become invisible again.