I step outside, mind clenched,
wind rustles honeysuckle
delicate bowls of cream.
I wait for you, urgent wings
focused on feeding,
humming, humming, humming.
Bumble bees bounce between blooms
cabbage whites flit on the fray,
My arms chilled by breeze
thoughts dissipate in a river of flight.
Anna Chorlton 2025
A slip of butterflies
glides subtle wraiths
along settling herbs,
taste tangy marjoram
dank heads of buddleia
an apple young as winter’s indifference.
©Anna Chorlton
Winter Garland
Woods hang with the ghost of orange
roam eyes for glints of red
listen for hints in time
a steady pumping beat
along sleeping trunks snake ivy
blue-green as winter seas
a wreath of possibilities
know not the length of life
down wooded banks toward the river
a fist of festive holly.
©Anna Chorlton 2023