The Dry Stane Dyke Project
i.
The dry stane dyke stands. Barely.
Stretches far off. Crumbling Ashkirk whinstone
dappled with velvet olive lichen,
held with feather-moss, flanked
by scrubby birch and rowan.
The dyker stands. Barely. Kneads his back,
then kneels to study before stripping out the stones.
He re-builds, weighs each stone in the hand, stilled.
Huge throughstones help him bridge.
Coping stones protect, lend an aesthetic touch
with hidden hearting, vital for equilibrium.
He patiently lays them side by side
grades by size and shape,
in character with the Borders landscape.
ii.
The dyker looks tenderly to place where each belongs,
examines each virtue, each fault
to maintain integrity, avoid collapse.
He’s practised the skills in every circumstance;
second nature, with steady cadence
to re-connect with people and place.
He takes his time - a wall built right allows others to thrive:
mosses, lichens, purple thrift and saffron saxifrage,
beetles in the damp warm spaces between courses,
even wrens can nest, just as St Cuthbert
tamed ducks to rest near his cell and chapel.
After winter, sleepy snakes slither from wall to grass.
The stones flourish for future generations,
all as kin, all as neighbours.
Inspired while teaching Religious Studies, Barbara Usher now cares for retired ewes who bring their lambs at foot, and ex-commercial hens on her 8 acre animal sanctuary, Noah’s Arcs. Her poetry has been published in Borderlands: an Anthology, Amethyst Review, the Catholic Poetry Room, Dreich, Green Ink Poetry, Last Leaves, Last Stanza, Liennekjournal, and in the Amethyst Press anthology Thin Places & Sacred Spaces. Her work is included in the Sonic Museum, Heids and Herts Scotland. She writes on Celtic saints, ex-farmed animals, and her local area, and is the representative for the Fife Poetry Stanza. Her website is: barbaraushernoahsarcs.com.
Amethyst Review 