The Runes themselves probably inspired the poetry and the idea of a series interested me. I had been studying the Runes, their role in divination and their history for a long while before I wrote the poetry. I still have a set of stones with the runes drawn on them. (Phil Coates, email, 12 April 2024)
I looked for her in the city,
Small birds flitted through the hedgerow.
Grasses murmured in the undergrowth.
Two generations the ice has gone
From the wide valley, green already
I was awake but the streets were dreaming
People walked softly not to stir them.
What a journey we might have made
With so many furlongs laid underfoot
In younger times, I’ve heard say,
The encrusted old had a better part to play.
We have travelled far,
Following our own faded footprints,
These few snowflakes midge-uncertain.
Is this the same elemental weight
I woke with the sun’s flood at the window
My heart lifted, the winter had been so long.
