Authors Electric

This winter we've had one storm after another, each wilder than the last, and often combined with heavy rain (the Hollywood type where they throw buckets at windows so you can really see it on screen). But spring has arrived in Devon this week with trees everywhere bursting into pink and white blossoms in preparation for a summer of fruit. Blossom can be seen in its full glory at  National Trust properties  around the country, with several events planned to show the flowers at their best (see link for details). Even a walk through your local town might treat you to a show - or, on a windy day, maybe a shower? - of delicate petals from the trees in urban parks and gardens. Cherry blossom, in particular, is beautiful at this time of year, and is celebrated across Japan as Hanami  or "flower-viewing" - a long tradition dating back to the first century, when the emperor and his court would party under the flowering trees and write poetry as an aristocratic pastime. Hanami - M...

  When would no blog have been better than a cobbled-together effort? You may be about to find out… Spring is about to be sprung, so here’s a hare prose poem:    Hare THE FIELD SPARKLES WITH LATE FROST. In the shadow of the hedge, the leveret crouches low, as brown as the earth that cradles her. Sharp eyes watch for her, sharp ears listen for her, sharp noses twitch to sniff her out. She knows nothing of teeth and talons, nothing of snares and guns and cutting blades. She knows only to be still in her shallow scoop. AS THE FIRST STARS RISE, there is a low thrumming on the air; her mother’s call. She is washed to rid her of the scent that could betray her, filled with warm sweet milk, left alone to the night and stillness once again.   MAY BLOSSOM PERFUMES THE HEDGEROW. Her mother’s call does not come. When the moon rises, hunger nips her. She cleans her fur, creeps from the shadow of the hedge into the field.   She crops the soft, low grass shoots. ...