Aftermath

It is twenty-eight days since I began

All of it at home

Yet, virtually

A good bit of it away

Perhaps I did find more

By staying in my own place

Whilst visiting

Those other fine places

Keeping my distance

Oddly I now feel closer

More of an attachment

To Lavender Barn

Also to Houghton Hall

To the Cholmondeley’s

Home for sculpture, with

James Turell’s Lightscape

We have received news

From our charismatic leader

On the next phase

Of social distancing, together yet apart

There is peace

There is quiet

There is sunshine

There are orderly queues at the DIY store

Let us all hope

That this societal caring

May continue, who knows, maybe

We may grow to love each other more

Norfolk Quartet (4)

In abstensis

I am to leave you

Drive home

Record my movements

Recollect my thoughts

Upload my images

Then to pause, virtually

By the desk

By the computer

By the fullness of past times

Norfolk Quartet (3)

Light before dawn

Light beyond dusk

Light for the silence

Temptations of musk

Light for the noise

Light for the entropy

Light for the continuum

Temptations of rum

Light for the garden

Light for the house

Norfolk Quartet (2)

Quietly, on open marsh

Listen closely

So so easy simply to be

Salt laden air

Enters the nostrils

Oh such memories of joy

Settled, free and easy

Alone, yet not lonely

Waiting for nothing

Except knowing full well

Norfolk Quartet (1)

In abstensis

I came to see you

To walk on your shorelines

To stroll through your Fenlands

To visit your country houses

To place myself

Among your grand estates

I was nourished, virtually

By the seas, by the winds

By the emptiness