Discovery by David Cruickshank

Discovery, finding what is already there.

The call of the curlew “Curlieu, Curlieu”

Uncovering the veils inhibiting awareness

Listening to the Lapwing’s “Peewee, Peewee”

Revealing what was previously unknown.

The Oystercatcher’s anthem in Bridget’s name

Becoming fresh and newly born in our existence

Admiring the exquisite lines of long-legged avocet

Discarding the limitations of our previous perception

Swift elegance of terns in intricate streamlined flight

Allowing ourselves to experience horizons as far as we can see.

Abundance of a flock of golden plovers, wheeling in a swirl, unfurling.

Opening up to what is beyond the known where sea meets shore

Dunlins dipping, turnstones tipping, stints scurrying along the spume

Awakening to the greater scheme of things, attention arising

Marsh Harriers hunting, surveying sedge and hedge, then sudden swoop

The inter-connected essence of a united whole, macrocosm in microcosm,

Ecology of egret, smart shelduck and the whistling wigeon’s world,

Endless creation of the current now with all its constant permutations.

Tidal variations, singing surf on a shifting shingle shoreline.

The presence of the present breath in breaking waves with toppling

Curling spray collapsing wholeheartedly, receding rhythmically.

The when and where, the how and what, the cycles of the seasons

And movements of the moon, the who and why and wherefore

Significance of stewardship, guardians of this fragile life on earth.

Witness of the wilderness, what else would you do but wonder?