A Brock Geology
Night falls & ………………………………………………fills the dingle with badgers
badgers pressing grasses…………………………………………………to bent curves
they feed & drink ………………………………………………& play, they trail their
piebald noses low ……………………………………………..to flow of brook & deep
below, taste all the cold ………………………………………….then warming rocks
red iron beneath their ………………………………………………………paws & pads
they follow glint of mica ………………………………………………….in their skulls
unlock the parish scents ……………………………………………..fling back its soil
behind their claws ……………………………………………………then shoulder one
another on towards …………………………………………………….midnight & have
no questions ……………………………………………………………….for their deaths.
Jean Atkin lives in Shropshire. Her first collection Not Lost Since Last Time is published by Oversteps Books. Her poems have won various prizes and she has also published five poetry pamphlets and a children’s novel, The Crow House. She has held various residencies in both England and Scotland, and works on education and community projects. Twitter @wordsparks
andotherpoems.com 