wake of solitude

Poetry Path - December

Making the most of what we thought (correctly) might be the only hour or so of sunlight today, we set off to Kirkby Stephen in search of the December Poetry Stone. We walked through Stenkrith Park, which is woodland beside the river, and out onto a grassy hillside, still by the river.

And there are the three stones which make the December installation. When four of us walked this way last month, the stones made an excellent place for lunch. Today they were a bit wet, but the sun was just about shining, so it was still a delightful place to be.

The plaque is supposed to be a farmer planting trees, but it is now very difficult to make out. The lettering is clear though and is in the form of a Haiku:

There sails the heron
drawing behind him a long
wake of solitude.

And yes, we did indeed see a Heron on the opposite bank, but we were even more delighted to see a Dipper.

Here are the stones in their setting.
And here is a close-up of the lettering.