Giles Watson's Blog - Posts Tagged "lockdown"
A Glister of Leaves
Sungazing: Badbury Clump
The air rings with the chimes of children
and chaffinches, the sycamore leaves
half grown, translucent. Beeches reach
towards them across the path, where
I lie down with my hair on the mould,
gazing up to where the sun burns through
the interstices, and a haze of tiny insects
hangs suspended. I can close my eyes
and come back here any time, from any
place on earth, because somehow, this
moment stopped for me and is preserved
for always, for as long as I breathe or feel
the leaf-split sun on my upturned face.
Poem by Giles Watson, 4 April, 2020. Photograph: Badbury Clump, Oxfordshire, 4 June, 2010.
The deluxe hardback edition of my new book is now available to order print on demand. It is printed on the best quality paper to ensure faithful colour-reproduction of the photographs. There is a photograph on every facing page, which I think makes it quite an appealing book, and a nice gift, especially for anyone who is in isolation. A regular paperback edition will become available in a couple of weeks. If any Albany residents would like a copy of this edition, let me know in the comments, and I’ll put in a bulk order, so that you can have it at a reduced price (around $53, or $60 by post anywhere in Australia). I’m trying to work out why the price is so heavily marked up for online orders, so in the meantime, if anyone from further away wants a copy for $53 Australian plus postage, please pm me your address, and I’ll arrange for the printer to send one directly to you, and for you to pay by bank transfer. The paperback will be cheaper.
Here’s the blurb:
Between 31 March and 13 May, 2020, Giles Watson went into self-isolation during the Covid-19 outbreak, and sought mental and spiritual refreshment in memories of some of his most beloved landscapes. Illustrated with photographs from his years in England, A Glister of Leaves revisits the megalithic monuments, woodlands and chalk downlands of southern Oxfordshire, recalls encounters with exquisite insects, and celebrates the gifts of solitude and quiet observation. The poems in this collection will revive the spirits of all who seek solace in the natural world during times of crisis.
A Glister of Leaves
The air rings with the chimes of children
and chaffinches, the sycamore leaves
half grown, translucent. Beeches reach
towards them across the path, where
I lie down with my hair on the mould,
gazing up to where the sun burns through
the interstices, and a haze of tiny insects
hangs suspended. I can close my eyes
and come back here any time, from any
place on earth, because somehow, this
moment stopped for me and is preserved
for always, for as long as I breathe or feel
the leaf-split sun on my upturned face.
Poem by Giles Watson, 4 April, 2020. Photograph: Badbury Clump, Oxfordshire, 4 June, 2010.
The deluxe hardback edition of my new book is now available to order print on demand. It is printed on the best quality paper to ensure faithful colour-reproduction of the photographs. There is a photograph on every facing page, which I think makes it quite an appealing book, and a nice gift, especially for anyone who is in isolation. A regular paperback edition will become available in a couple of weeks. If any Albany residents would like a copy of this edition, let me know in the comments, and I’ll put in a bulk order, so that you can have it at a reduced price (around $53, or $60 by post anywhere in Australia). I’m trying to work out why the price is so heavily marked up for online orders, so in the meantime, if anyone from further away wants a copy for $53 Australian plus postage, please pm me your address, and I’ll arrange for the printer to send one directly to you, and for you to pay by bank transfer. The paperback will be cheaper.
Here’s the blurb:
Between 31 March and 13 May, 2020, Giles Watson went into self-isolation during the Covid-19 outbreak, and sought mental and spiritual refreshment in memories of some of his most beloved landscapes. Illustrated with photographs from his years in England, A Glister of Leaves revisits the megalithic monuments, woodlands and chalk downlands of southern Oxfordshire, recalls encounters with exquisite insects, and celebrates the gifts of solitude and quiet observation. The poems in this collection will revive the spirits of all who seek solace in the natural world during times of crisis.
A Glister of Leaves
