Observing

Notes made a few days ago whilst sitting by a farm road and stewarding for cars at Luton Hoo Walled Garden open day:

Sitting on the grass verge
under a sycamore tree rustling in the breeze.
Hot and sunny,
A Chaffinch sings in a tree,
Sparrows chattering in nearby gardens,
Slightly hazy clear blue sky,
Touching to coolness of Dock leaves,
The hardness of the gravel,
The warmth of the breeze,
The heat of the sun
The waving of the grass in the field,
A gentle buzz of a fly,
The cooing of a dove,
Sitting on the cool grass,
The damp earth,
Soft refreshing earth,
The constant chatter of a high skylark
Up in the heat haze - unseen,
Translucent dock leaves,
Tall slender grasses,
The warm smell of the tarmac road,
The humid sense of the undergrowth -
Nettles and things,
Beetles and spiders -
on the road, on my hand,
Other odd insects dancing by
almost unseen, like a glimpsed shadow,
White clovers and a tall pink vetch.

Talk to me dear landscape
What can I learn from you today?
Challenge me today I pray
Challenge my soul and call my dreams
to be aware of all things.