Poetry - Issue 8 | February 2010
Two poems by Sue Burge
A Walk in the Peaks
Clouds scuttle across the sky
like sheep a dreamer has forgotten
to stop counting.
Our walk is punctuated by stiles.
Slates like gravestones stacked against
a drystone wall.
We climb from Grindsbrook Booth to Hollins Cross
where the coffinbearers would pause
before the descent to Hope.
Whorls of wool litter the path as
sheep unravel in the fields.
Stones like bones uncovered by shifting mud.
Down a narrow lane a sudden breeze delivers
a swirl of blossom
transforming us into snowglobe figurines.
Ascending skylarks shatter the sky and
my head is full
of all the poetry I’ve ever forgotten.
About the author
Sue Burge’s house is packed with exotica. She has immersed herself in hot springs on three continents, ridden horses, mules, camels, elephants and bicycles, and attended more wild and wonderful religious ceremonies than she can count. You can find Sue Burge’s poetry in Mslexia, Poetry in the Waiting Room, and .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), as well as in two anthologies: Tales of Eastern Promise and Up to our Necks in it.