Solsbury

It was quite a revelation when I realised that Solsbury Hill, immortalised in 1977 by Peter Gabriel's song, was actually only a couple of miles away from my uni halls. One night, fed up with the racket my housemates were making, I went for a walk down into Bath...and ended up out the other side and up on the hill with its traces of ancient earthworks. I dozed off and woke up in time for the sunrise. Magical.

So not all of my poems from this year were gloomy. There's some sense of optimistic wonder, and hints of my later attempts to tie in historical and geographical curiosities with my own personal experiences. That was nice to discover as I revisited this early stuff for publication here!

SOLSBURY

Followed in Gabriel’s footsteps today

Climbed that hill

Where time stands still.

And from miles around

The sound

Of rooks and traffic came to my ears

And washed away the years.

In the grass

Traces of fortifications

From centuries past.

Defending long-gone halls

The castle walls

Under a leaden sky

Like the weight of history slipping by.

Close your eyes

Picture that landscape.

So many trees

So few houses

So much time gone by

Feel small?

Well you’re part of it all.

If it had been a sunny day

I’d have marvelled

How the sun

Was the same one

Worshipped thousands of years ago.

The solstice, the standing stones

Those that built them, their souls have been taken home.

But it was cloudy

So instead I stood awhile

And listened

At peace.

The rook-song called to me

An atom of human history

The years went by rapidly.

Thirty-five or so

Of those years ago

Another young man

Climbed that hill.

Saw for miles around

Listened and was inspired

Magic, perhaps.

A lingering relic

Of ancient memory

The compelling music

Of Solsbury.

Thanks to Peter Gabriel for Solsbury Hill.