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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 19h

The thick darkness Of a mole-blind morning. Feet slip on gravel and tiredness. Racing clouds lower themselves To the earth in rain. No moon or stars, Just waterlogged sky And the wind among the alders. But that is alright, For I have Stars enough And windsong among alders. #naturepoetry #night

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Canal-side plants Black bryony Chill of autumn mornings Water mist rising To non-committal skies. Necklaces of fiery pearls, Dew-polished and bright. At the heart of each Not a single piece of grit But the miraculous fire of life. #DailyNature #ukcanals #plants #naturepoetry

The towpath is slowly waking to sullen skies and the dampness of autumnal mists. Breathe in deeply. You can smell autumn in the still air. Reach out your hand. Through the damp leaves, feel the heavy ribbon of sinewy stem. Heavy with a massive of berries. Smooth, wet spheres, as pretty as pearls, but filled not with a piece of grit, but the fire of life.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Dew wet. The ducks are all Around the boats. Robin song among old branches. Mushrooms gently shoulder Leaf mould and new growth green. A heron lands and then Fades out of sight Into the autumnal landscape. #DailyNature #naturepoetry #ukcanals #autumn

Two creamy mushrooms lie half hidden beneath last year's fallen leaves and new growth green. Brush aside the crisp dried leaves to feel their domed surfaces. Feel how smooth they are, firm yet soft to your touch. Without blemish, perfect, in every way.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Walk softly, Tiptoe past. Don't stare, Don't fill the air With needless noise. Your presence is enough. #naturepoetry #ducks #ukcanals #DailyNature

Sssssh, you world is touching another. One that has its own rhythm and pulse, the ebbs and flows of passing years, afloat on still waters of the canal.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The slow drift into autumn is underway and can be felt not so much by changing colours but through the rhythms of those who live alongside us. Tonight, we celebrate this shift & enjoy a hot Missouri night with @jvanbooven.bsky.social. #podcast #ukcanals #autumn #nature www.noswpod.com/autumn-drift/

noswpod.com

Autumn Drift

The slow drift from summer into autumn is underway and with it comes gentle shifts (both seen and unseen) that are the pulse and rhythm of the earth and life along …

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Thunderflies among lavender "I'm really excited, are you?" Three young female students Their smiles even brighter than The sunshine of their youths. #poetry #freshersweek #youths #joy #youngoncemore

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

A desultory grey day, Heron scolded and dripping. I float my anxieties on still waters But find it difficult to let them go. Sometimes, there are No burning bushes. Only the squabble of ducks And the miracle of sloe. The canal invites Me in to its silence. #naturepoetry #anxiety #ukcanals

Feel the damp air. Can you smell the scent of damp earth and atill water? The air is clammy and holds you like a rejected lover. Reach up. Feel the rain wet branch of blackthorn. Those little orbs, are like small universes, night dark. Their fruit sweet and sharp. Roll one on your tongue. This is the taste of life.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Not looking forward To this day; Stomach in knots. But as I left for work, There were bats in the sky And a crescent moon. And now magpies scatter Unspoken assurance Of winds that will bear Mischievous wings. And a maple seed Lying on my office floor. #DailyNature #solace #poetry

A photograph looking straight down at the winged seed of a maple (I think) that I found lying on my office carpet.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

*New episode* Great excitement last week as nine geese flew onto our moorings. Join us tonight on the 'Erica' and find out what happened and why geese might not be quite so different from us as we might think. Link in bio #podcast #nature #ukcanals #BoatLife #birds www.noswpod.com/uncertainties/

noswpod.com

The Uncertainties of Geese

It’s a beautiful night, but there is an autumnal damp chill in the air. So, snuggle up with us aboard the Erica as we enter the mysterious, but perhaps not so diffe…

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Ostracised and alone, She swims across the water Hopeful for evening scraps. The water shimmers around her; Leaving intricate patterns In her wake that are alive With light. Does she have any idea What beauty she leaves Behind her in the waters Where the fish make rings? #naturepoetry #ukcanals

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Thank you, Wendell. Rest in peace. Your words will continue to blaze with wisdom and healing.

Photo of Wendell Berry's poem 'The Peace of Wild Things'
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Old summer light. With each gust of wind, The hiss of last night's rain Still falls from the oak's Gnarled fingers. The canal holds the sky close, Waiting for the moorhens to hatch. My legs are wet from the long grass. #DailyNature #ukcanals #poetry #nature #summer

Feel the dappled warmth of a morning sun. The hiss you hear is last night's rain, held in the leafy fingers of the oak that leans over us. The ground beneath us is soft. The smell is wet earth and stirred water. That silence is a moorhen waiting in a nest

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

You walked this path Through those long weeks Of parched heat, Shoulders burdened By the weight of grief and care. The land now drinks deep. Brittle flowerheads reach up. So, you lean forward And gently cup them in your hand. It's the only human thing to do. #DailyNature #poetry #climate #drought

Standing beside the dessicated heads of Lady's bedstraw beside the stilled waters of the canal. A golden sun peaking over a bank warms us with soft heat. Everything is parched and brittle, but the ground is soft. Bend down. Feel the ground. See how soft it feels, and warm. Seeds are sleeping, burrowing down for next year. Sweep your hand wider. That's yarrow, feathery and soft, already growing back, and beside it birdsfoot trefoil flowers once more!

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I had forgotten How soft The ground Should feel Under my feet As I walk. The rain Has given My feet Winged smiles. #DailyNature #rain #poetry

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

We weren't born for For the 24hr news cycle, or To process endless tragedy And division on the eternal Scroll of doom. But you were made To encounter golden fells of gorse, The feel of the north wind, The thorn pierce of bramble, And the wing song Of returning winter geese. #DailyNature #poetry

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Tonight the canal seems so quiet and sleepy, but have you ever wondered what it is like below the surface? Tonight, we listen in to that world and begin to explore strange soundscapes full of life and and wonder. #podcast #ukcanals #nature #fish www.noswpod.com/beneath-the-...

noswpod.com

Slipping beneath the surface

Welcome to the Erica on a still summer’s night. The canal may seem quiet, but below the surface the fish are busy and it is far from silent. Join us tonight as we l…

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

An old man Sitting beside the canal Watching the minnows Of his youth. Where does the time go? And yet, here, It hangs so motionless Above these waters. #DailyNature #ukcanals #naturepoetry #aging #growingold

A brown oak leaf, crisp from summer drought, floats on the surface of the canal. The water underneath bends to cushion it, as if the canal is carrying something so valuable and sacred.

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Reposted by Nighttime on Still Waters

Laine Thompson @marlinhoister.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Rain. A whisper against wood, a drop on the gravel. Drought cracks. Pebbles sing. Spiky leaves gulp down the sky. A sigh of petrichor. The fence drinks deep - dripping, dark, alive. The lifebuoy swings purpose remembered. Golden sunrise bleeds. Pots dance, heavy, soaking up the downpour. Joy!

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

And the canal says; "I will teach A fallen feather To fly again Anong the clouds and trees Of my endless skies." #DailyNature #ukcanals #naturepoetry #hope #nature

Looking straight down onto the canal. A feather and some thistle down lie on its surface. Their topside bown dry and ready for flight. Blue sky and clouds and trees can be seen reflected on the water.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

"Standing tall and alone, his head pulled back like a snail’s into the shell of his shoulders, the heron was silent, drawing his sense of himself from within, he never once needed to see his own face in the water.” John Moriarty -Nostos #johnmoriarty #solitude #heron #bird #nature #wisdom

Extract from John Moriarty's 'Nostos' from the John Moriarty Community FaceBook group.
"One of my favourite passages from Nostos

“Sometimes coming down for the cows maybe, coming very quietly, I would look over the parapet of this bridge and I’d see a heron. A strange ghostly bird he was, and how tall he could stand, standing from the tips of his yellow legs to the tips of his yellow bill.
And then, with his lovely blue mantle over a white shirt, he was better dressed than a priest saying mass on Laetare Sunday. Seeing me, he’d take fright and taking difficult, steep flight in a place narrowed by high banks and by sally trees, he’d fly downstream with unhurried, wide, wingbeats.
Always, always, meeting a heron had a strange effect on me. Even physically I would feel different. It was as if, just by seeing him, I became him. I became his silence, I became his solitude, I became his distance, the most holy distance he kept from the human world.
We hated being alone, but he didn’t mind at all. He didn’t even need a dog with him, the way my father did.
And when we fished for eels, turning every likely stone from here to Danny Shaun’s Bridge or, working upstream from here to Paddy Aherne’s, how full of excitement and noise we were. Looking back on it, we were every bit as screechy and greedy as seagulls following a boat out of Inis boffin. Standing tall and alone, his head pulled back like a snail’s into the shell of his shoulders, the heron was silent, drawing his sense of himself from within, he never once needed to see his own face in the water.
Meeting a heron is like meeting the shy, sequestered parts of ourselves. It is like meeting all the parts of our own soul that the economic world has no use for.”

John Moriarty 'Nostos'

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Morning quiet. The canal lies silent. The cut and glide of moorhen, Silver and smooth. Large canopied wings Follows heron's side-eye. Two ravens greet a new day. Such are the canal's conversations. Blackberries form the fullstops. Nothing more needs saying. #DailyNature #ukcanals #naturepoetry

Bright cerise petals flame fron loosetrife's poker stem. I front a cluster of blackberries turning from red to midnight black. The background is a curtain of died-back willowherb and loosestrife, and greens of iris leaves and reed.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

This is the common reed, otherwise known by the silk-soft sweep on your arm or leg as you pass by (who else greets you so gently on your walk through life?); or that unrepeatable play of sunlight through feathers of carmine and crimson; or the cool scent of shade in a burning world... #DailyNature

In front of us is the feather soft flower head of the common reed. Feel how silky it is, like running your fingers through floral water. It is the red colour that generally only appears in dreams. It has no scent, but clothes itself in the smell of cool air.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

A breath of sanity from John Moriarty (because we all need it sometimes). #nature #johnmoriarty #reconnection #home

A beautiful sunset of (I assume Irish) mountains. It was the mythic landscape in which John lived and learnt to reconnect. Thrice baptising, he would say, his cancerous Western education out of his head, and nurturing the glowing ember of his 'bog soul.'

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Jen Ratcliffe @jenratcliffe.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Week 1 of August Daily Nature - on steam & dreams Wonderful to see nature community blossoming on the web💚 Thanks to @noswpod.bsky.social , @persiflage.bsky.social, @mixaeljones.bsky.social &co. featured in this weeks post jenratcliffe.substack.com/p/steam-and-... #NatureWriting #DailyNature

jenratcliffe.substack.com

Steam & Dreams: August Daily Nature Roundup (Week 1)

Week 1 of our August community nature challenge: a roundup of submissions and some journalling prompts: what can we awaken through dreams?

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

It is a glorious summer night, but the canal is officially closed. Join us tonight, as we ponder over what this actually means for liveaboards and the fragile ecosystem left behind. Does the canal miss us when we are gone? #podcast #ukcanals #summer #nature #drought www.noswpod.com/remembered-l...

noswpod.com

The impression of remembered light

It is a glorious summer’s night, but the canal is officially closed. Join us tonight, as we ponder over what this shutdown means for permanent liveaboards and the f…

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Like everywhere, At the moment, The talk all along The canal is the rain. The eager chatter of drips. Gentle whispering Sighs among alder. Reed and iris' High-pitched plinks, The oaks deep exhale. The slow celebration Of slug and snail. #DailyNature #ukcanals #naturepoetry

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

First day of canal closure. Heat plays across the water. The air feels close and heavy. A cat slants asleep across a cabin roof. A young lad with faraway eyes says 'There's a big pike here.' Then he says he could be wrong. I tell him I saw it last evening. He looks relieved. #DailyNature #ukcanals

A westering sun, white and hot, flares on water. Ripples spread out across the still surface from where I have dipped my feet. In the distance, the canal captures the reflection of tree's.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Canal-side plants Angelica (Wild) The thrum and beat Of cyclists and joggers. Airliners razor between clouds. But the canal Sleeps easy and content. In its reflection, I can read Its dreams. And there Is Angelica by the wall. #DailyNature #ukcanals #plants #bloomscrolling #naturepoetry

The sun is warm, though we stand in the shade of sloe, bramble and travellers joy, here. Rooks and jackdaws busy in the distance. Lamb call to mother. In front of us, the canal sleeps, patient and content. Two moohen chick's paddle their way across it. Reach out your hand. Feel the firm almost globular flowerheads, made up of floral balls the size of your thumb. Ot is a little like the feel of a cauliflower that had fallen apart. Can you smell the faint sweet aromatic perfume? This is angelica

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

The Prussian blue sky The scent of cut tomatoes Fields of calico #naturepoetry #haiku #summer

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

While we are taking a couple of weeks off on holiday, it is time for another of our Summer Readings specials, where I recommend and review a book that I think you'll enjoy. For this episode, it is 'Boater' by Jo Bell. #podcast #boatlife #Narrowboat #ukcanals #books www.noswpod.com/boater/

noswpod.com

Boater (Summer Readings - 8)

Summer is finally here, and nothing quite beats finding a cool and last spot (preferably in the dappled shade of a willow tree or two) and idling away a few hours w…

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Canal-side plants Meadowsweet I came for the howl Of wilder winds, the Roll of storm clouds, Sunset fire, and the Blast and fury of life At its most essential. Instead, nature Sang to me With meadowsweet. #naturepoetry #plants #ukcanals #naturemusing

Soft sunshine. Soft scent and dreams of honey and sweetness. Soft touch on your fingers. Pillows of creamy foam like blossom. Behind, the canal flows quietly.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Canal-side plants Arrowhead Chaste bathing beauties Dip below the water As each boat goes past. #naturepoetry #ukcanals #plants #nature

There among the soft silt and cloying mud at the water's edge (and wherever the canal is shallow) little cherry blossom flowers crouch beneath great green arrowheaded leaves. Plunge your hand into the sun warmed water. Feel the tangle of stems. Here is life. The faint shirt you hear are dragonflies. We are in a world of wonder

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Canal-side plants Teasel 'Come,' Says the teasel, 'Let me charm you With goldfinches And between my bristles The wild haze Of moorland heather. For we all have wilder hearts That beat to untamed winds' #naturepoetry #ukcanals #plants #wildness #nature

Spiky pin cushion egg-shaped heads of Teasel (be careful when you reach out your hand to feel them). A haze of mauve/purple lingers between spikes. If Venus had plants ,this is what they'd be like.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

We walk through Drifts of loosestrife That dance with tiny wings. All the while, the canal Dreams in the syrup sweet Afternoon sun. #naturepoetry #ukcanals #plants #nature #summer #bees

Tall fronds of purple loosestrife beside mirror calm waters of the canal. A bee lands on one of the flower heads, clinging like a,rock climber.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Canal-side plants Marsh woundwort Soul friend You too love The shady places Of midnight greens And moorhen call. #DailyNature #naturepoetry #ukcanals #plants #flowers #summer

Feel for where the air is damp and cool. Stetch out your hand for the brush of sedge,rush and iris. Is there the scent of still water gently stirred? Then here, you might well find the soft trumpets of foxglove-silk petals of marsh woundwort, forming a pillared pyramid.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Canal-side plants Bindweed Strung along the towpath The great bells of bindweed Ring out their silent peels. The canal listens For the chimes We cannot hear. #naturepoetry #DailyNature #ukcanals #plants

We're crouching down among the reeds and rushes beside the canal. Just in front of us are two hand-sized bells of pure white ,with creamy centres. Touch them. Feel the soft silk of their petals. Magpies squabble above us. Lambs call out for their mothers. The canal listens for the chimes we cannot hear.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

"Every day, priests minutely Examine the Dharma And endlessly chant Complicated sutras. Before doing that, though, They should learn how to read the Love letters sent by The wind and rain, The snow and moon." Ikkyu (1394-1481) #zen #poetry #wisdom

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

And the path leads on to who knows where? Disoriented little souls, dry and exhausted. We all need aa helping hand sometimes; we all need a glimpse of clarity. Together, we find water. #life #frog #souls

Disoriented little frog on my walk this morning. Together we found water.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

*New Episode* It's a glorious July night with a welcome breeze playing among the reeds. Join us tonight at we think about how people viewed summer in the past and find some surprising similarities and differences. #pocast #ukcanals #summer #nature #history #mentalhealth www.noswpod.com/gentle-days/

noswpod.com

The Gentleness (of the shortening days)

A welcome breeze plays among the reeds and carves ripples on the canal. Tonight, the Erica is moored on a perfect summer’s night. We welcome you to join us as enjoy…

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

"Living deep in the mountains I’ve grown fond of the Solitary sound of the pines; On days the wind does not blow How lonely it is!" Rengetsu (1791-1875) #poetry #Zen #windless

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Canal-side plants Nipplewort They call me An invasive weed To pull me up By the roots. A nuisance A threat. They do not see me Rise lotus-like, Transforming your ground With the beauty Of such nectar-rich life. #naturepoetry #ukcanals #plants #naturewriting

Bending low to enjoy two small flower heads. They are summer-yellow, the petals lie horizontal. Tall spiky stamen give a lilly like appearance. Such intricate beauty.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Canal-side plants Hemp agrimony Slow winds the canal Through calico fields. Two drakes break cover From a jungle of iris leaves. Surprised by the strawberry blush Of floral candyfloss. #naturepoetry #ukcanals #plants #DailyNature

We're standing looking down the canal. Rooks call with chaotic antiphonies from a heraldic sky. Reach out your hand. You will feel the warm soft tickle of young hemp agrimony florets. They will turn into fluffy floss in a day or two. Behind the canal a glimpse of fields turning brown and dusty

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

The clouds are not the sky The sadness is not the son. The long grasses sing out The Heart Sutra To the wind. þæs oferēode, þisses swā mæg [That passed away; So may this] #poetryorsomething #wordsflungatthewalloftheworld

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

For a short while, this morning, The sky whirled With crow call Ragged wings Against a snarl Of cloud. For a time, My world was filled With crows. I doubt though, If looking down, They felt that their world Was filled with a solitary man Looking faintly lost In a denuded wood. #naturepoetry

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

John Moriarty's 'What the Curlew Said'. I love this book so much. It is like a mountain spring, always fresh, always replenishing. #naturewriting #Philosophy

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Canal-side plants Morning glory Up with the lark, Fresh faced. Lazing in the sun all day. Even by late afternoon They are still wearing Their pink and white Striped pyjamas. #naturepoetry ##DailyNature #ukcanals #plants #summer

Just above the water, teetering on the very edge of the bank, the delicate trumpet petals of a morning glory. The petals striped candy pink and white. This one os early, catching the first sun, other flowers, remain still furled beside it.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

It's been a HOT week in the UK (particularly on a steel narrowboat)! So come and enjoy the cool of the evening with us onboard the Erica as we 'freewheel' into a warm summer night. #podcasts #ukcanals #naturewriting #summer #boatlife www.noswpod.com/evening-cool/

noswpod.com

In the Cool of the Evening

As the heat begins to settle, join us tonight on the narrowboat Erica as we enjoy that special time of a summer’s day, when evening falls and cool breezes ripple th…

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Sages have come And their names are now lost Bullies also came, terrorised, And now their names And faces are forgotten. The hemlock The dew The raven's call Remain #naturepoetry

Tight fists of hemlock blooming at the water's edge.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Thick chalk-cliff skies And a sticky warmth That threatens heat A fish surfaces Gulps Then decides To go back home And then Everywhere And everything Is suddenly golden. #naturepoetry #solstice

If you can imagine a steep bank of golden sunshine, gentle, enfolding, as soft as evening summer lawns, you are close to what I felt when I took this photograph. It is a bank of hawksbeard. They a like small dandelions. Each a petalled bowl of sunshine.

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Nighttime on Still Waters @noswpod.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

For a while, This evening, I watched A tiny damselfly Alone among the stillness Skim low across The wide, wide water. A solitary figure, Slient, minute, Dwarfed by the clouds Reflected below her. And I thought That I have never Seen anything So brave as this. #naturepoetry #courageunseen

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