“Cranes and Sheep” is complete! After many drafts, it is everything I hoped it would be. Above is the entirety of its evolution, from the initial sketch to the finished poem.

I now move on to “Autumn”, composed in 2012, the oldest poem in the collection (indeed, it was my first lyric poem proper¹—how apt that Nature should be its theme).

At the time, there was no Forgotten Fields; I had no plans to produce an anthology of poems. “Autumn” was merely my heartfelt response to the loveliness of the season.

It exists as a highly finished draft given that I considered it a completed work, back then; but, as I noted some time ago, I believe I can improve upon it, seven years later.

1. I wrote a little about the significance of “Autumn” in my poetic journey in the fourth instalment of my “Artist Questions” series.