"AUTUMN DAY IN COQUETDALE" Valerie Apted
AUTUMN DAY IN COQUETDALE
And sometime on a fine morning in early October
after a night of heavy rain, drive up Coquetdale
when the air is clear and overhead, the sky its brightest blue.
Take the sandy path above Rothbury up onto the terraces
among the faded heather and the grey tangled roots.
There is no hurry. Take in, breathe in all you see -
the red rowans bent low, rosehips bright red against a clear blue sky.
The air is so clear you can see for miles
across the valley to the dark hills of Simonside
A row of larches and occasional beech catch the sunlight
and rise like flames from yellow bracken.
Overhead an aeroplane paints vapour trails across the blue
but here there is no sound.
Everything is silent, save the squawk of a startled pheasant.
You can never capture perfect Autumn days like these.
For now, nothing else comes close
Happiness like this comes unexpectedly, unasked to fill the heart,
and needs words so big, they cannot fit on any page.
Valerie Apted
October 2017