Back to the Hills
Contents
- Bramble Scramble
- Give me a picture
- Local Hills
- Coopers Hill
- Over Hills
- Churchdown Hill
- The countryside church
- Robinswood Hill
- Hill after Mile
- Whilst I was looking across the land
- Into the winter wind
- A fresh layer on old ground
- Up and across
- A stones throw away
- A walk to find confidence
- The hill so close
1. Bramble Scramble
Bramble
Scramble
Jumping over
Kissing gates
Locked gates
Walking through
Puddles
Getting into
Muddles
In mind
And in mud
A pause
For thought
For home
Back
Through
Brambles
Scrambling
Over walls
Through
Farm fields
I ramble
Gamble
Going over
Unknown land
One more
Scramble
Through brambles
And I
Am home.
2. Give me a picture
Give me a picture,
And I will find where you are,
Show me the view you see,
And I will walk to find it,
As distinctive as you are,
The land will give me clues,
To where you are,
And where you walk,
Give me a picture,
And I will do all I can,
To walk into that image,
And stand next to you,
The beauty of the land,
Is almost as beautiful as you,
From the picture I will find you,
Wherever you may be,
Give me a picture,
Of where you stand,
With a view like you,
Just beautiful,
I will come and find you,
As I promise I always will,
The view and land I see,
Will guide me through to you,
As the picture you give to me,
Is all the beauty I see.
3. Local Hills
As I stand upon Coopers Hill,
To the North is the saviour,
That is Churchdown hill,
To the West,
Stands Robinswood Hill,
The unknown entity,
But a good view,
All the same,
Travel South East,
And a Roman Villa,
Awaits you,
To explore and imagine,
What it would have been like,
To live amongst the hills,
Travel in a southerly direction,
And you will find a beacon,
By the name of Painswick,
With a walk to a trig point,
Full of views,
A chilly wind,
Will usually welcome you,
Whichever direction,
There are an affinity of paths to walk,
From one hill to another,
And back again.
4. Coopers Hill
Forever a muse,
A place to walk,
In sunshine,
I bask in the views,
As the summer sun shines,
And in snow,
If it shall fall over the winter months,
I write the name of the love I have,
Upon the ground,
When the sun sets,
What a place to be,
To see the light change,
And the colours come alive,
A hill walked many times,
Yet each time,
Is a different experience,
In thoughts and walks,
As the journey of life continues,
Forever a muse,
A place to walk,
To clear the mind,
And set the words free.
5. Over Hills
From here
To there
I walk
To you
Over hills
Through brooks
Climbing stiles
Leaping fences
Looking out
For path
And gate
To find
My way
Making ground
Pass under
My feet
I ramble
Or scramble
As I
Get closer
To you
Through fields
Of crops
Or mud
(Mostly)
Finding myself
Through trees
I climb
Upwards higher
Than I
Have ever
One more
Hill top
To walk
As the
The brook
Seeps into
My boots
Each stile
Climbs harder
As my
Body tires
I leap
No more
As fences
Once friends
Hinder me
I fall
Over fences
To get
To you
Through everything
I walk
One thought
I have
Spurs me
The thought
Of you
I go
Walking over
Hillside stiles
With sodden
Wet toes
Yet nothing
Stops me
Getting closer
To you.
6. Churchdown Hill
A saviour,
A place where I feel at ease,
As I walk around the church grounds,
Views simply breathtaking,
After walking through the trees,
Sights worth every step to see,
The world opens up,
As I reach the top,
With the church standing proud,
The views stretch for miles,
When the sun shines,
I rest upon the wooden bench,
The mind breathes,
The poetry breathes,
I breathe with ease,
Never did I think,
A hill would be a saviour,
Yet here it is.
7. The countryside church
The countryside church,
Stands still and silent,
As I was walking there,
I thought of you,
The church became obscured from my view,
By the wintery looking trees,
And the sunlight shining through the bare branches,
I could not see where my heart was destined,
Soon enough I found my way,
To a place,
Where I could wed,
And one day rest,
The countryside church,
A beauty from afar,
But more spectacular,
Are the views,
Once walking here,
Through the trees,
To the vision,
I see and dream about,
In daylight and night.
8. Robinswood Hill
A place explored,
But never understood,
As a pleasant hill it is to walk,
It doesn't set the mind on fire with ideas,
Somehow never fitting into my thoughts,
Even though I know,
This is a place to believe in,
A place in the heart,
To stretch the lungs,
And allow the mind to breathe,
Many a time the peak evaded me,
As all I thought was to ascend ,
However round and round I went,
And time ran out,
So I descended with a heavy heart,
Perhaps a few more walks,
To explore here and there,
Will show the mind,
What it is,
That it misses,
As it is always in view,
Keeping an eye on me.
9. Hill after Mile
Hill
After
Hill
The view
Can be seen
Mile
Upon
Mile
Standing
Next to me
Is the love
I live to be
Hill
After
Hill
We walk
We keep
Walking
Mile
After
Mile
Never rest
Until
Night
Has fallen
Even then
The heart
Walks
Mile
After
Mile
To find
Hill
After
Hill.
10. Whilst I was looking across the land
Whilst I was looking across the land,
Admiring the view that is before my eyes,
I forgot that the view behind,
Is that of equal beauty,
From here,
And where I stand,
The view and the world,
Can be seen all round,
Somedays I just don’t look around,
To see everything that is to be seen,
Transfixed by where I stand,
I am in awe of the world at this angle,
Momentarily forgetting everything else,
Whilst I was looking across the land,
I forgot to look behind me,
You may have walked on by,
And I wouldn’t have noticed,
Equal beauty in front of me,
As well as behind me,
I looked across the land,
Transfixed by what I saw,
As the beauty captured my heart.
11. Into the winter wind
The sun sets,
For the final time,
Deeper and darker,
With the sun fading,
Darkness falls a little sooner,
Each day we go further,
Into the winter wind,
The days are shorter,
Warmth is scarce,
We wait,
Until the sun rises,
And the cool air,
Can be cold no longer,
The air starts to warm,
From the rays of light,
That have been hidden,
For what feels like an age,
The sun may have set,
And the wind will howl,
We wait for the sun to rise,
To save us,
From the deep dark winter wind,
With rays of warmth,
Entice us from hiding,
Into the world we live.
12. A fresh layer on old ground
Through the night,
Snow covered the ground,
Creating a perfect place to walk,
A fresh layer on old ground,
Giving a different perspective,
Of what was already there,
Making new footsteps,
Across the snow covered ground,
Feeling invigorating,
With the sense,
I am making my own new path,
The snow has fallen,
For a new day,
May it be time,
For some new ways,
The crispness of the air,
Matches the snow crunching under foot,
Freshly fallen upon old ground,
To walk and write,
A new chapter into old ways.
13. Up and across
After walking to the summit,
We stood side by side,
To admire the view,
Both in front of us,
And the beauty,
We stood next to,
You huddled in close,
As the wind was brisk,
Your nose turned red,
I looked into your eyes
Giving me the warmth I needed,
We held hands,
Up and across,
The green fields we walked,
Never letting go,
As we descended,
I held your hand tighter,
As I didn’t want you to stumble,
Nor I want to let go of you,
After the walk,
The roaring fire,
Warmed our cold feet,
Closer now than ever,
I began to change,
From being lost and incomplete,
To a found and complete soul.
14. A stones throw away
A stones throw away,
From the beach to the shore,
The ground changes,
From sand to soil,
Soon the grass grows,
And into fields they go,
A path is carved,
Up and over the ground,
With the path splitting,
Up into the forest,
Or back down to the ground,
I choose to go up,
To explore far away from the shore,
A stones throw between,
Sand, land and hills,
I walk between worlds,
Far more beautiful,
Than I could ever describe,
Forever a stones throw away,
From beauty,
Of land, sea and air.
15. A walk to find confidence
With the confidence gone,
I need to walk,
Upon the grass filled fields,
To get my thoughts back,
And in the correct order,
I see where I like to walk,
From afar,
Yet you’d think,
It was further than a mile or two away,
The inclining grass filled fields,
Gets the blood flowing,
And awakes the memory,
Of what needs addressing,
And what needs to be forgotten,
A simple walk to stretch the mind,
Makes the heart,
Stronger and wiser,
Building the confidence back up,
To take on the world,
And every challenge it brings.
16. The hill so close
The hill so close,
I feel I could walk there today,
Yet life carries on,
The hill and the walk has to wait,
How we become,
Lost in time,
And what matters,
Has just past by,
When it’s all too late,
We wonder why,
We let the time we had,
Slip away,
As the hill is so close,
I will walk it once more,
To and from a place,
That has captured the mind,
In a beautiful world,
So close I could reach out,
Almost grasp your beauty,
But time holds me back,
Just a little bit more,
The hill so close,
Grateful I’ll be,
For being able to see you,
And one day,
I will walk there,
Once again.