Cwmmy Crab

i

A stitchwort shift, a bluebell shawl,
I’ll cast aside in dancing;
hart’s tongue moist, fox gloves tall,
blossom frail, confetti fall,
I’m eager for the asking.

           For I can call the fat cuckoo
           from Broomy Hill to Dol-y-Cannau;
           smooth frogspawn for my lover’s pillow
           down in Dinedor’s dells.

ii

Eels easy slip damp meadows soft;
barn owls ghost, unseen;
badgers dig for brooding wasps,
scatter paper, fluster moths,
to feast upon a queen.

           For I can see fey gloworms beckon
           along faint tracks from Leinthall Starkes,
           sisters beyond coiled adders’ bracken
           down in Llangarron’s valley.

iii

Haws and rosehips; rain-jewelled hedges;
sloes darken tangled thorns.
Breathe deep, tread light; flame leaves now pledge
renewal fed by little deaths,
a rich bed to keep you warm.

           For I can hear the insects scurry,
           as hedgehogs feast in Beggars Ash.
           We’ll harvest truffles, juicy berries
           down in Hoarwithy hollow.

iv
Burning apple wood, sweet-smoked bright,
you’ll naked wait my coming.
Beyond Imbolc flames, snow drift white,
beyond paw-tracked path, moon’s icy light,
I’ll rest my ceaseless roaming.

           For I can waken dead that lie
           beneath the crust of Sugwas and St Weonards;
           whispers linger, deeds gone by
           down in Kymin’s cwm.

*this poem first appeared on the Ledbury Poetry Festival Apple Orchard page.

Myfanwy Fox is a biologist who now manages a charity shop on the Malvern Hills. Her poems have been published in anthologies and magazines including The Morning Star, Ink, Sweat and Tears and many others. She is a regular at Malvern’s ConFab Cabaret and has read at Ledbury Poetry Festival, Swindon Poetry Festival, Worcestershire Lit Fest and other events. She blogs at myfanwyfox.wordpress.com.