Ashridge place of trees and forest
\nA realness and actuality
\nI met an owl called Bertie there
\nA barn owl of repute
\nHer heart shaped face
\nHer ebony eyes
\nA soft white downy suit<\/p>\n
SHe flew close by my windscreen
\nAs I drove my car
\nA feathered ghostly apparition
\nComing from afar
\nBacteria on her feathers
\nGave her a lit up look
\nSort of like those luminous dials
\nInside of me, I shook
\nAnd shivered not surprisingly
\nAnd a long low shreik I heard
\nWas this the sound of this small owl
\nAnd Was it from any bird?<\/p>\n
A sort of hissing snake like sound
\nIn the rich moon light
\nA golden ruff of feathers
\nHer legs were sparkling white
\nShe stared down into my eyes
\nIn a moment in a gaze
\nA totem could it possible be
\nSwooping down and then did raise
\nSuddenly to take another bird
\nA passing phase<\/p>\n
Swallowed whole feathers and all
\nAnd all done soundlessly
\nNothing really will ever make
\nMe forget what I did see
\nAs barn owls are being killed off
\nBy rat poisoning, they be
\nAlso Knocked down on the roads at
\nNight
\nFrom drivers who fail to see<\/p>\n
Their ghostly forms emerging
\nAnd flying close to where
\nThe driver might just fail to see
\nTired and unaware
\nAshridge boasts a heavenly place
\nWhere Birch Oak and the thorns
\nStraggle over chalky down
\nAnd the speed limit warns
\nDrivers if they cared to see
\nThe nocturnal spirits there
\nInstead foot down acceleration
\nAnd dead souls lost who share<\/p>\n
Road kill is now everywhere
\nCut down in pure flight
\nOr crushed and broken by the tyres
\nA spirit bold and light
\nWho tore into your spot light path
\nAnd lost its precious way
\nOut of where it came from
\nInto how we make them pay
\nSquashed and broken dying
\nOut there in the forest dark
\nWhat a wasted beauty
\nWhose life and death was stark<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ashridge place of trees and forest A realness and actuality I met an owl called Bertie there A barn owl of repute Her heart shaped face Her ebony eyes A soft white downy suit SHe flew close by my windscreen … Continue reading