well-built and pleasant
is my hut in the woods
set back in a clearing
a space within a space
steep-pitched under sunbeams
fresh water trickling by
a comprehensible
a comprehensible
form introduced
into formal complexity
a place apart
having the gravity of
a place apart
with nuts dropping from hazels
intelligence of trout under banks
a glimpse of sky between branches
pale hills above willow catkins
economy among the desires
measure among distances
a shelf with a few books
a shelf with a few books
a solid, well-scrubbed table
when light pours in
through the windows it builds
another space where walls
of shadow turn in the light
no footstep on the path
no throat cleared on the threshold
where every morning is the first
and every evening the last
dawn of the small birds
dusk of the pine marten
when I lean in the door frame
when I lean in the door frame
it is dark in the room
and I try to listen farther
out into mild weather
a dripping of mist under alders
the kettle singing on the stove
silence, clarity, fragrance
silence, clarity, fragrance
deep moss under pines
where deer step trembling through
a few shards of cold light
into glades of wintergreen
in a delight of mornings
a place to come awake
to go out and come in
butterflies on the mallow flowers
bees in the wild thyme
a stucture light as its idea
the door propped open with a stone
Thomas A. Clark
Illustrated with drawings by Laurie
Clark
poem first published by Moschatel Press
drawings first published in Mesostic Remedy
republished for Sweeney's Bothy
Bothan
Shuibhne | Sweeney’s Bothy
Alec
Finlay & The Bothy Project
commissioned as part of Creative Scotland’s
‘Year of Natural Scotland 2013’
