On Poetry and Autumn

Puddles at Dawn, 19 May 2021. Copyright 2021 Forgotten Fields. All rights reserved.
Another autumn morning dawns in the Overberg. Little frogs click beside the pools and jump into the water as you tread the soggy shores. (Taken 19 May 2021, Apple iPhone 11 Pro)

The South African autumn affords those who venture out upon the hills before sunrise the most ethereal views of the Overberg. Wet with the rains of May, puddles punctuate the paths, lanes and dirt roads—mirrors crudely shaped but polished to perfection, faithfully reflecting the sky.

Surrounded by such beauty, I work diligently at my anthology. Though presently developing “Rietpypie”, I occasionally revisit poems already completed, testing those new ideas that come with re-examination, and thus, “A Batis” returns to the writing desk as I try to improve upon it.

Poetry Publication Progress (2021-05-30)

A Field Afire

Stubble Fire, 23 April 2021. Copyright 2021 Forgotten Fields. All rights reserved.
A stubble fire in autumn.

Autumn has come to South Africa and all across the countryside, the hills are being readied for wheat, barley and canola. Yesterday, I watched as a field was scorched of the stubble which since November has bristled upon it, the white smoke and black earth a sure sign that the green of winter approaches.

Stubble Fire, 23 April 2021. Copyright 2021 Forgotten Fields. All rights reserved.
A labourer keeping a watchful eye on the smouldering straw. At the wayside, I could feel the heat. “Hot work,” I observed. “Hot work!” he laughed.
Stubble Fire, 23 April 2021. Copyright 2021 Forgotten Fields. All rights reserved.
His smoky keep.