Distant lowing of restless cattle
Purr of an idling diesel tractor
Alarm cackle of a swooping jay
These sounds cut the still air
Between green grass and blue skies

Dead stick cracks under booted foot
Stream bubbles over smooth stones
Quicksilver body of water
Pulls me mesmerically into itself
Onwards home to the sea

Heifers jostle on the brook’s bank
Wall-eyes staring in wild unknowing
Slime strings hang from wet noses
Raw instinct nuzzle and nudge
Disturbed by alien dog and me

Dog is in her element here
Released from domestic prison now
Lifts her nose to test the air
Stands in wait for nature’s sign
Then suddenly – off into the soft landscape

For this moment I too feel at one
With all that IS and can be
All civilised thought eschewed
Locked in the freedom of here and now
No past regrets or future hopes distract

Heifers’ tails flick
Birdcalls paint the air
Dog’s tongue hangs loose
Standing still and panting steam
Fused in this moment of time

Crossing the field’s boundary
I leave this innocence behind
Dog too knows the shift
And comes to heel to face the world
On its own harsher terms