Solace In Skibbereen Poem by Margaret O Driscoll

First lowkdown - along the Ilen river Alder catkins sway like prayer ribbons
Spring's arrival offers solace, daylight lengthens, brightens

Roads radiate from town like wheel spokes
Woodlands, marshes, boreens beckon
Raucous rooks busily building nests
Pollen-dusted bumblebees sip nectar from crocuses
Sap oozes from a broken Birch branch
On Windmill Lane wild strawberries flowers peep from hedgerows
By the Caol stream a swan stacks reeds for nesting
Cuckooflowers paint a meadow lilac
Among rushes a newborn white calf sleeps

Second lockdown - heading into Winter nature lifts my spirits still
Seeing lapwings foraging in flooded fields
Pink Spindle berries all along a laneway
Candlesnuff fungus on a decaying log
On a frosty morning ice crystals on clover
I hear the whistling of teals along the Ilen
On a wet day raindrops cling to Old Man's Beard
A seal swims upriver with the tide

Third lockdown, New year - a cold snap
Icicles hang from ferns along The Cutting
Frost encrusts a pink primrose on a wall
Violets peep from ditches on Mill Road

Spring Snowflakes blossom by a stream
Speedwell's blue flowers begin to show
Dandelions are rays of sun by roadsides
Gorse blossom fragrance fills the air
Bullfinches feast on Cherry tree buds
Willow catkin pollen blows in the breeze
Blackthorn blossoms cover bare branches
Ladybirds emerge among new leaves

My quest concentrated within the 5k limit
Recording wildflowers, exploring all around
Nature provides us with joy and solace
In all areas there are wonders to be found