Topic Tags:
0 Comments

High in the Berkshires (for RPW)

Tim Murphy

Mar 29 2013

1 mins

Richard records in such minute detail

this biosphere, its bounty,

in his synoptic book.

Fern-beds of Hampshire County

recolonize this rarely trodden trail

winding to Hamlen Brook.

     Come walk with me, and take a look.

     A collapsed, camouflaged pup tent

     marks the damp nights youngsters spent

     fearing this little wilderness,

grandson and granddaughter

     swapping ghost stories, I’d guess.

But suddenly the rush of laughing water

that never deigned to flow

in all my drought year visits long ago:

I stand athwart this mossy, rocky bed,

revolving in my sunrise revery

     quatrains I hold in memory

from the best sermon I have ever read.

Tim Murphy

Comments

Join the Conversation

Already a member?

What to read next

  • Letters: Authentic Art and the Disgrace of Wilgie Mia

    Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.

    Aug 29 2024

    6 mins

  • Aboriginal Culture is Young, Not Ancient

    To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case

    Aug 20 2024

    23 mins

  • Pennies for the Shark

    A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten

    Aug 16 2024

    2 mins