East Lewis
This dark way of land:Earth heavy and peat rich,
Sticky with stone bones.
Providing an inadvertent
And supreme distinction
Between land and sky.
Heather and nettle purples
So seasonless in aspect
Dig heavy in dirt and become it.
So wholly desolate and wild.
If this side were to arch her back,
Her creamy loam would
Meddle and rouse her bones
Then settle again quietly as ever.
To secretly mind her sandy western babe.
July 2004