Wild Moment: Alison Ross
Poems inspired by the far north of Skye and Harris
I have returned home from the windswept, rugged and magical far north of Skye, but my mind's eye is still alive with glowing sunsets, northern lights and frosty sunrises highlighting the flight of wild swans. Part of me wished I could fly with them, no longer earthbound but able to see this place from a bird's eye view:
Autumn Leaving
Leaves turn and fall in gentle winds,
winds that stir feathers and beckon hearts.
Wings stretch, shake off summer and lift great birds
to sweep in arcs across the sky,
carving clouds
and pushing the fading light before them.
Frost dances on feathers
and snow swirls in their slipstream
as necks crane, listening.
They hear the scent of summer
whispering in far off places,
warm ancestors calling their tribes home.
Within me the same yearning rises,
a swelling panic that demands flight,
had I but wings to obey.
On an unspoilt beach on Harris, I was struck by how much of ourselves would be lost if wonderfully, wild places like that ever disappeared...
Extinct
Even when I am gone,
the echo of me, resounds within you.
For I am your wildness,
the untamed part of you
that is fearless,
fierce
and alive.
You may deny me,
And turn your face from my going,
but in so doing, you deny yourself too.
For I am there,
waiting,
still and silent in your shadows,
seated at the hearth of your primal flame.
I am your freedom
and only when you acknowledge me,
and your wilderness within,
can you ever be complete.
