The sky draws a line under lifeless clouds
as if the day is over:
witch-green, layered time
stepping meanly backwards,
hiding the light
behind jailer voices
while meadowed horses wait to be released
and the promised hour is swallowed
by grey land – old hoofprints
heading plainly for the flood,
reeds bent endlessly in prayer
across a path too often travelled
into the northern mist
towards the december sea