12 Comments
User's avatar
Iain McGrath's avatar

In a parallel universe

this is a curiosity

labelled ‘H2O.’

It’s frozen in time, preserved

so other civilisations

will heed warnings

about their planet’s demise

before it’s too late.

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment deleted
Oct 18, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Iain McGrath's avatar

Thank you Sarah. I couldn’t manage the optimism of Lesley’s piece, and hope I’m wrong!

Expand full comment
Iain McGrath's avatar

Sorry Kate! Senior moment! Only just noticed I called you Sarah. Mea culpa

Expand full comment
Lesley Mason's avatar

Tiger passing through the forest,

the Water Tiger swims the

unknown rivers, following

the spirit of flow.

The gentler of her kind,

she learns from the

rain-song sung among

the leaves

to trust the passing

nature of single drops,

to the change-spirit

of the shallows

and the deeps, and

the mighty falls where

river crashes droplets

back to air

Tiger passing through the forest

is the gentle solitary soul,

intent upon her own slow

mysterious road.

Expand full comment
Linda Parkinson-Hardman's avatar

I had to read this twice to fully understand the impact it had on me, and it was when I realised that you had described the Chinese zodiac sign of the water tiger so beautifully that it landed.

Expand full comment
Lesley Mason's avatar

Thanks Linda... and yes I am a Water Tiger.

Expand full comment
Lesley Mason's avatar

I'm glad I'm not the only person who takes pictures of puddles - frozen and otherwise. :)

Expand full comment
Linda Parkinson-Hardman's avatar

It's that fascination with what it means Lesley - after all there is a whole world waiting to be discovered in that puddle. I was on a walk today and we were looking at lichen on a stone and I was reminded of Horton and the Who's by Dr Seuss!

Expand full comment
Penny Payne's avatar

I am the water spirit

Your bodies and the earth

The same portions are water

I grow every living plant

And your son and your daughter

I am Moisture. Tears. Sweat.

Rain. Waves. Ice.

Deluges and sea swells

Your predictions imprecise

You need me to sustain life

But I can devastate and drown

I may feed your crops today

Or I may flood your town

I am crystalline beauty

The awe of ice and snow

Thirst quenching and cooling

How I’m here you still don’t know

You rely on me for living

I shape your coasts and land

But you should never trust me

I have the upper hand

You can bless or curse me

You can drink and you can bathe

But you’re never really sure

How I might behave

My internal structure changes

With music and with prayer

Ever a mystery to you

Just be grateful that I’m there

Give thanks for my succour

And for your travel on my face

And remember that my presence

May have come from outer space

Expand full comment
Linda Parkinson-Hardman's avatar

Penny this is so evocative of the nature of water, and also a timely reminder that nature always wins!

Expand full comment
Lesley Mason's avatar

A wonderful tribute to water in her many guises....and our complicated relationship with her.

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment deleted
Oct 13, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Penny Payne's avatar

Wow Kate. Thank you so much. I love that you love it! I live near the sea too, in Dorset, and I totally get what you’re saying. When my granddaughter was small we’d take her to the beach, and the nearer she got to the ocean, the more energised she became. It wasn’t excitement - it was like it revitalised her - and she now lives on the Oregon coast and has always had an affinity with the sea. It definitely has magical powers. x

Expand full comment