The Well of the Outstretched Hand
for Rebecca Marr, photographer

Massed thunderclouds storm along Loch Ness.

We turn into the dense wood, put it on like a coat
for shelter. We've come a long way for this well.
Hunkered down, Rebecca is drinking from cupped hands
when I see something white cresting the bank
to shake a glossy fern above her raven hair.

The ghost swift moth is flying out of the wood,
maybe, whose hindwings flash brightly.
Or the sun splashing the roadside hedge-parsley,
these foamy flowerheads. Or uncurling fronds
of mist rise above the rill, this white hand

hovering over whoever drinks, to share the light.


THE SPRING TELLER (Luath Press, Ltd, 2009)