Garden Day Poem

And this was Cynthia Fuller's poem


Moorbank


Take refuge here. The garden is

a cup of breathing green

rimmed by the city’s noise –

the swell and drone of cars,

the lost dogs barking to go home.

It is a living habitat

for urban birds – a nest of song.

Roots are pushing deep below

concrete and tarmac.

Time could slow here to the pace

of ancient trees, or quicken

to keep step with the sudden poppy

whose orange tissue flares

and crumples in a day.

Garden Day

Linda France, poet and writer is currently Leverhulme Artist in Residence at Moorbank, Newcastle University’s Botanic Garden.
I spent an inspiring day there last week with several poets and visual artists invited to make work in response to the space.
It is always difficult to switch off and to find something to say on the spot, but after a few false starts, I found that each plant had its own calligraphy.