Pond
Hole in the sky where the frogs fell through—
the pond’s puddle a window, not down,
not depth, but up, a high window,
seeing through earth to upwards, a rim above,
a round rim where the others dwell,
sit on the edge of the world window,
with a view of the human mess.
They are human but no longer with us.
They congregate, pass day time, move
about, change places, they are not idle
nor active, they are calm and present as
witnesses who pass no comment but
watch, waiting; wait, watching.
Their names are legion, too many
to remember. Trompe l’oeil, frescoed,
they are out of reach, up there beyond
the false horizon, the painted balustrade.
This glazed hole – impenetrable, solid,
transparent, bubble, dome, hatch cover.
Unclicked, if that were ever possible,
the pond contents would fall through,
people falling back to earth like newts, alive,
a kind of resurrection, though only shadows,
shadows of memories. They would be partial,
stuff missing, incomplete. Better to leave
them be, let them be where they are on
the other side of the sky, around that rim,
new members arriving. They are friendly,
have no fear. They are enchanting,
they do not judge, but seeing them,
watching their silent, kindly movement
around that rim, beyond, we may feel
the need to judge ourselves in their presence.
A goodly part of the Aldilà sequence was triggered by prompts given during an eco-poetry workshop series, Changing Everything Carefully, that took place from the end September to the end of November, 2018. The workshops resulted in a book entitled Poemish and Other Languages. They were led by Kay Syrad1 and Clare Whistler, who together collaborate as a composite eco-poet kin’d & kin’d. Later in this series, I’ll tell you about the text inspired by the workshops that became my poem Caliban. It went on to win third prize in the Wales Poetry Award in 2020.
One of the first prompts given was:
Choose and area outside / a tiny place and observe /
sense as much as lonely as you can.
Make a list of everything you discover, using research to identify and name things if you need to.
Visit this place often during the 8 weeks.
My chosen place for close observation was the garden pond which features in this series as Varna’s eye.
Look out for more of Aldilà tomorrow…
Kay Syrad’s latest collection is Yellow Noon Day from Cinnamon Press
