micro forest photo by Paul Brookes
Not painting
Only a painter could look at golden grass stalks,
the shrinking of pink and white beneath the sun,
green, a spring memory gathered high in oak and fig trees,
and find the same hues among chalks, pastels and paints.
I look, follow bird tracks, the sharp scything of wings,
shadows in wind-ripples, hear shrill and sweet
voices calling, the murmur of spring water,
fill my head with the earth scents of hot hay,
and it seems too much to capture,
to spread like butter on a slice of white paper.
Jane Dougherty
Bios and Links
Jane Dougherty
lives and works in southwest France. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her poems and stories have been published in magazines and journals including Ogham Stone, the Ekphrastic Review, Black Bough Poetry, ink sweat and tears, Gleam, Nightingale & Sparrow, Green Ink and Brilliant Flash Fiction. She blogs at https://janedougherty.wordpress.com/ Her poetry chapbooks, thicker than water and birds and other feathers were published in October and November 2020.
The Wombwell Rainbow 