Nightjar

Like I said I'm quite into birding. I recently discovered that this is also true of another priest-poet the great RS Thomas. 'Blackbird' published in a recent book by Ruth Padel is quite brilliant. This offering of mine came out of the incredible experience od successfully stalking the elusive nightjar. This is a noctural bird which emits an unlikely churring sound at dusk during the summer in lowland heath areas of the UK e.g the New Forest. We stalked this sound one night in June this year, near Sway in Hampshire and were rewarded with a fly-past from this large bat-like flier - it was an amazing experience. It explores, however less well, similar themes to those of 'Blackbird'.

Nightjar

Only in the stillness, when light is half-remembered
Colour spent. Only in dark.
Only in that heavy hum of silence,
The dry roar of the engine
Reduced to a belligerent tick.
Only on the edge of things
Stumbling through fresh bracken.
Only off the common track.
Only then, when the beating of our hearts
And transport of our veins
Was stilled, we heard it,
Nocturnal, churring, nightjar.

Stealth migrant. Night incarnate.
Brazen bird-bat, clapping through
The dark soup at the end
Of our experience. We stalked
Him like a holy grail,
A black gem in the cave
Of clamoured day until he flapped
His revelation from our lives,
Destined for deep night.