Words by A Wensley

  Our poet-knights this November day, Set off through Bin Combe, waterproofed, yay! The Autumn leaves aglow with amber Spurred them forth, no keener ramblers Ever, oh ever, did I see, I see Oh ever did I see! Beneath an arch, a portal zone, They hiked with gusto - creaks and groans Did hear they from the wood surrounds, But fear they not the muddy ground Oh yes, oh yes the squelchy-squelch Oh yes, the squelchy squelch! Traversing ancient boundary lines Our poets make it up th'incline, Crossing roads, through sessile oak Thy waterproofs drying, not too soak - Ing wet, ing wet, ing wet, ing wet, Oh yes, it weren't too wet! Two roads converged in our walk-wood Two of us took less travelled, good! In search of Lady's Spring we went But on arrival she was spent! Oh yes, dear lady, lady well, Oh dear, oh well oh well! Combe to combe Coco did bounce Scruffling leaves, a squirrel, pounce! Onwards upwards to Dowsborough Fort But not today, we thought, we ought - To march more quickl...

  Raiding for rainbows  (or 10 poets of Samhain eve)  - Walk 2, a sequel poem to Six Poets of the Equinox (Walk 1)  I took it upon myself to follow a rainbow today,  O'er the Quantock Hills From Bridgwater to Watchet,  A Viking-raided port in West Somerset.  Unlike those marauders,  I did not come here for the Saxon-minted Silver pennies though,  Moreover, on this day, I came to raid it's culture; To find true poetry in the veins of it's people,  It's landscape, it's place.  Sure enough as we came together -  Ten poets 'neath a shelter on the Esplanade (by the Ancient Mariner himself no less!),  The dark clouds that had gathered o'er the sea relieved themselves of their heavy, burdensome rain,  And another rainbow did appear.  And so it came to pass that a museum of boats, of heritage, wrapped itself around us,  And we, united in elemental distrust - in circular form,  Sought to find meaning in each oth...

  Six Poets of the Equinox (the antithesis to the four horsemen of the apocalypse)  Assembling, We unsheathe our pens in the shadow of the Coleridge Oak. Alas our outstretched limbs do not amount to its great girth, But oh the potential! Proceeding,  We walk as one through trees of green, The clouds weep,  For Summer is passing.  The wind plays hide and seek with my vision  As my hair turns nest-like, I turn and see you. Connecting,  We pass a melee of grounded blue tits, Freshly out-cased conkers -  Flashbacks of childhood reflected on their shiny coats,  A drought of un-cupped acorns Dropped too soon, Yes, I can see you. Ascending now,  From under the hooves of huntsmen,  A golden shaft of light breaks through Fleetingly at first, on fungi, (No chicken in these woods), You glow like nature's streetlamp, At the end of arched-branched tunnels -  Life from rotting hollows; And I can see you!  For you are a beacon Autumn! An...

Hot Poets - Sparks In March-April 2022 Liv Torc brought together a group of poets (the Hot Poets: Sparks) to produce poetry on the theme of changing the 'doom narrative' in the communication of climate change information.  This followed her success with the Hot Poets project at COP26.  Each participant chose a climate conscious innovation or 'spark' to research with an expert in that field and produce a performance poem, which was developed with Liv Torc, Chris Redmond and the wider group over a series of online workshops, culminating in a performance evening. I chose to write about solar energy and approached Abi Lamberti, the most energetic of Energy Managers at Somerset County Council, to be my expert collaborator.  A book containing all the Sparks Poems from this project will be published in November by Liv Torc, to coincide with COP27. Thank you to everyone I met on this journey, I can't wait to see our work in print! Solar Dawn (read with energy) Standing...

Hi, welcome to my new blogger page, if you'd like to read more of my poetry back catalogue and new poetry - as it happens, I have a Facebook page called ' Words of Compassion, Words of Peace; Poetry by A Wensley' .  Somerset has always been my home; I have a particular family and deep connection with Exmoor National Park and the Quantock Hills AONB. I write a regular Yammer blog for Somerset County Council employees on the theme of mindfulness and wellbeing, brought about by my mindful walking in the Somerset countryside and have undertaken various voluntary conservation and research activities over the years. In recent times, I have contributed to several of Frome-based poet Liv Torc's participation projects - namely Haiflu (a pandemic poetic and photographic record of the experiences of common people during the covid lockdowns) and Hot Poets Sparks (a climate change - change the doom narrative project) - a new book 'Hot Poets Sparks' is soon to be published ...