Sitting on the Bench by the Earl’s Bu, Orphir

 

Listening. Just listening to the quiet.

Yet, in the distance, the slow rhythm

of the sea strokes the shingled beach.

A small breeze sets the grasses singing,

a soft lazy descant above the sea’s thrum.

In a distant field, the chug of a tractor,

making the most of a sunny day.

 

It’s the middle of the afternoon; 

the seabirds silent, bellies full.

Closer, flitting by,

some Meadow Pipits

pin their tiny pips onto the silence.

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Tonnie Richmond lives in Leeds and loves Orkney and neolithic archaeology. She has had poems published by The Storms, Black Nore, Up!, Dreamcatcher, Dawntreader, The High Window and others and in various anthologies. Her first pamphlet, Rear-view Mirror, was published by Yaffle’s Nest in November 2023.

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