Easter 1984

This was written to commemorate [if that is the right word to use] a visit to my in-laws in the middle of Dartmoor in Devon. It took the form of a series of linked Senryū and was actually composed over that weekend, almost as the events unfolded.



Easter 1984 27 Apr & 02 May 84


Arrival : Thursday

Clothed within night's cloak
The stars barely dimmed by the
Light from the kitchen


The stay

I : Friday

The morning chorus;
The cock'rel, the sheep and a
Dog who sings to friends


II : Saturday

Dry. The tinderbox
Moor catches easily. Flames
In the evening sky


III : Sunday

Guarding against dogs
We walk the Mariners Way
And watch a swallow


Return : Monday

The open road! Though
Trapped behind a caravan
We still caught the bus




The Mariner's Way is a fairly long distance path linking north and south coasts of Devon and passing through Dartmoor. The only part of this path I have any real knowledge of is the length that passes just outside the border of what used to be my father-in-law's land and for a few miles beyond in both directions, north and south from there.

I contemplated adding an image here but felt that the mind can provide better than the offerings from other places.