Burren Light
It began this way.
A notion
a slight suggestion
a search for questions
and a yearning
just beyond my reach.
A curiosity
wavering
around the edges
of my imagination
tormenting me
on the tip of my tongue.
Until
I found myself wandering
in another place
a wilderness
so stark and beautiful
so full of promise
it took my breath away.
It was the silence
that hit me first
its undulating layers
like the landscape itself
spoke to me
challenging the order of things.
The old wisdom offering up
a new invitation
the polished limestone pavement
on which I walked
mirroring the way.
And I saw
against all odds
early purple orchids, and
deep blue springtime gentians
flourishing
midst the stubborn rock.
It was by the flaggy shore
I felt how things could be,
as the striking light,
the echo of the poet’s lilt, the
wistful strains of a fiddler’s tune,
The Beauty of all of This
Awoke My Senses.
So that I hear my own voice now
quite distinctly
I listen gratefully, as
those words so long ago forgotten
break through.
They tumble and race
with such energy
chattering away
on my lips, on the page,
forging new shapes.
Which I weave
into a new narrative
for a poem about change
Like this.
Lesley Young / January 2021
National Poetry Day 2018 / Theme: Change
Lesley Young – Writer and Poet
Lesley specialises in helping senior managers in the NHS and not for profit sectors to cope with the challenges they face in bringing about sustainable change. She has also run her own organisational consultancy business since 2010, and is an accredited and experienced life and business coach.
But Lesley is first and foremost a writer and poet and has been writing for more than 30 years. She likes her writing to be of the moment and immediate, which means that she leans mostly towards poetry and short stories. She has been a member of the Scarborough Writers’ Circle for 8 years, where she currently holds the committee role of publicity and website officer.
Lesley is passionate about making a difference. The healing powers of poetry, and the written and spoken word, underpin and feature in Lesley’s work always. She has a growing interest in storytelling and memoir, and has several projects in the pipeline – one of which is to develop her interest in running writing retreats, and the other to publish some of her own writing.
To find out more about Lesley visit: integracoaching.uk.com
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