Page 7 - NewsandViews 2023 whole publication

Thoughts on a Chance Encounter Robin Goodman Glendarroch, Lochinver 2023
submitted by Davis Mason as agreed

the snake was coiled on the steep track that ran from the cottage
high on the mountain side
it was a dark and wet night, low clouds obscured any moonlight
what was he doing there, all coiled up as if for the night.

The track is steep, much moss covered
one side rock face or tumbled jumbled rock
thick with a carpet of sphagnum
and trees
birch trees
white and silver smooth trunks
branches still bare and beautiful,
still on this still wet night
a mud path indicated where the deer come down

Birches were among the pioneer trees to take root
after the ice was gone
are these the descendants of the ancient ones?
a stream tumbles, chattering, clattering down
to the sea, not far away.
and an old stone wall

This ancient place.
threads link with the ages gone and yet to come
the snake, eyes glittering in its fine chisel head
thick of body, tail tapering, coiled motionless yet alert
watching, watching
has links all the way back to the beginnings of life

it dwells not in the turmoil of human life
on this precious planet

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