The owls of Owlpen

 We live close to Owlpen in Gloucestershire,  which lives up to its name. 


Pulling my covers tight, 
My first night alone in a new house,
I tell myself I'm safe, locked in, 
Each creak and groan that makes me start
Is the house settling into the cool night.

Whoo-oooo, whoo-oooo
The owls of Owlpen are talking tonight, 
Lulling me to sleep with their questions
Whoo-oooo is this city dweller who has moved here?
A soft and gentle welcome. 

Then - Tuh-weeet! Tuh-weeet!
The strident female answers with a shriek
Its unsettling cry piercing through my doze. 

I pull my covers tighter, 
The owls of Owlpen are hunting tonight. 


© Copyright 2021. Chris Auger. All Rights Reserved 


Comments

  1. Ron.4 July 2021 at 09:44

    Owls owling in evening are wonderful but I'm always more moved by the just-pre-dawn tweeters.
    Nicely captured moment, though. Sleep well.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Leave taking

I've been to two funerals recently. I suppose it's inevitable that their frequency will increase as I get older,  and my peer group ages alongside me.  It makes you consider your own mortality, and prompts a resolve to use the days left to you more wisely.  But somehow you never do, preferring to think there's still enough time left.   The death of an elderly uncle is easier to bear. It's possible to reflect on a long life, well lived,  To remember the fun you had when you were small, How he made you shriek until you were breathless,  To consider the grace of his faith, which eased his end.  The death of my sunny, fun-filled friend Is much harder to balance. We are all too aware She had too few years to enjoy her joyful take on life,  Will miss out on too many evenings full of laughter,  No longer guide her grandchildren into adulthood. Both deaths celebrated as a release from pain.  Both lives celebrated as lives lived well.  We carry their memories home with us,   To
Read more

Dont go to India

I wrote this after a toilet stop in the way from Jaipur to Varaneeshya.  Don't go to India  not if you worry about squatting over a hole in the ground, with no running water. not if you worry about hawkers thrusting their wares in your face, "300, 200, 100 only". not if you worry about children caked in street filth, tugging at your sleeve, your heart. not if you worry about rubbish, plastic bottles, bags, packaging, strewn across the streets. But if you can make peace with all that  you will find beauty wherever you look. ©  Copyright 2023. Chris Auger. All Rights Reserved
Read more

Do you have a preference?

Whenever I'm asked 'which do you prefer?' I usually say 'I don't mind,  whichever is easier' - because I hate to cause extra work for anyone! But of course,  I do have preferences.  Today's poem is thanks to an idea from Elizabeth Boquet, who by the way is a great poet to follow (elizabethboquet.com). I prefer modern fiction to classical  I prefer cats who curl up on your lap I prefer the smell and taste of coffee I prefer it decaffeinated nowadays.   I prefer blues and greens,  turquoise and teal above all other colours I prefer men with blue eyes I prefer white flowers.  I prefer walking through woods, alone  or with the one I love I prefer the journey to the destination I prefer a slightly cloudy sky.   I prefer to Lindt chocolate to Cadbury's I prefer custard creams I prefer mince pies to Christmas pudding I prefer vegetarian to vegan. I prefer to avoid conversations about politics unless I know we all are lefties,  and are unlikely to fall out - I
Read more