Tall the cliffs of stone
That mark the entry to my heart’s domain,
Wild and empty in its vastness
The solitude of living earth.
The wind lifts the heart
And bears it through the storm
To where the lichen crusted rocks
Cling to the clouds.
Part of my heart remains there
Scattered with the ashes of a lost love
Mingled with the joy and pain of memory,
Of childhood wonder and a lover’s kiss.
Deep the roots which bind me to that land,
Like the weathered pines that cling for life
To the purple hillside…
Genuflecting, but standing, still,
Naked in the mist.
Or the great stones,
Ice carved in aeons past
Into a landscape of dreams,
Marked by ancient hands
With figures of Light,
That I may stand beside them,
Millennia apart,
And recognise my kin.
I have cheated this week and reposted and old poem about the place in the photo. This week’s prompt photo was taken from the top of the Cow and Calf rocks on the moor above Ilkley, during one of our Living Land workshop weekends. The moors here have been close to my heart since my earliest childhood and I have walked them with those I have loved the most in my life.
It is a place full of history and mystery. There are more of the enigmatic petroglyphs carved into the rocks of this little stretch of moor than anywhere else I know. There are stone circles, remnants of ancient civilisations, cairnfields for the dead and a refuge for the living…all watched over by Giant Rombald. And when the heather is in bloom, there is no more beautiful place on earth for me.
*
Thank you so much to everyone who took part this week. I reblogged as many of your posts as I could, and all the posts are listed below, so please click on the links below to read them and leave a comment for the author!
A new prompt will be published later today. As always, I will reblog as many contributions as space allows, as they come in… and all of them will be featured in the round-up on Thursday.
Pingbacks do not always come through… if you have written a post for this challenge and it does not appear in the round-up, please leave a link to your post in the comments and I will add it to the list.
Come and join in!
Many thanks to this weeks contributors:
Sisyphus at Of Glass and Paper
Fandango at This, That and the Other
Jan Malique at Strange Goings On in the Shed
Balroop Singh at Emotional Shadows
Kim Russell from Writing in North Norfolk
Vivian Zems at Smell the Coffee
Hayley R. Hardman at The Story Files
Laura M. Bailey at All the Shoes I Wear
Anurag Bakhshi at Jagahdilmein
Joelle LeGendre at Two on a Rant
Ritu Bhathal at But I Smile Anyway
You’re allowed to cheat once in a while Sue! Loved the photo! 💗
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Thanks, Ritu 🙂 x
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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🙂
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Lovely photo and poem Sue. 🙂
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Thanks, Marje 🙂
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Cheat or not, beautiful as always Sue.
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Thank you, Penny.
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This was gorgeous view to share! If I weren’t on 50 hour weeks, I would try to write more often. . .
Blessings to you and your son, Sue! ❤️ 💐
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Thanks, Robin. I know that feeling… x
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It does look magical, and your words reflect it well. (K)
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It is… deeply magical and full of memories.
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Love your poem, Sue. A great prompt and lots of reading to do here.
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Some really good pieces this week too 🙂
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Pingback: Photo prompt round-up: Valley – The Militant Negro™
Thanks for reblogging 🙂
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What a thought-provoking poem Sue…and you have walked those moors! No wonder the poem bears an imprint that filters through experiences. Thank you for sharing the background and this poem. Old is gold and should be reposted for new readers. 🙂
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I know the moors here well, Balroop and love them dearly. 🙂
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Love the poem Sue, and I understand now why my effort struck a chord with you. 🙂
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I thought you might… you really did capture that feeling. 🙂
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I’m pleased.
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