Quiet Day at the Cathedral – a poem by Helen Evans

Quiet Day at the Cathedral

I’ve lost count – overhead, at least a hundred 
cackling gulls are struggling for height.
Chaotic shadows flap across the cloister.

Waiting for some unregarded bird 
to centre on a thermal core and climb,
I shut out thought. I listen to the fountain.

A gust blows through and I look up again.
Above the nave at noon a seagull soars.
The rising air sustains its graceful turn –

and then another – and then another –

 

Helen Evans facilitates Inner Room, a pioneer lay ministry that creates space for people to be creative, and is piloting a new project, Poems for the Path Ahead. Her debut pamphlet, Only by Flying, was published by HappenStance Press. Her poems have appeared in The Rialto, The North, Magma, Wild Court, The Friday Poem and Ink, Sweat & Tears. One was a joint winner of the Manchester Cathedral 600 Poetry Competition. She has a master’s degree with distinction in Creative Writing from the University of St Andrews. www.helenevans.co.uk