Hillside

translucent sheep

black face blotches stains

on hilltop landscape,

snow pulled over rain

and the old farmer

negotiates iced path,

eager forms shiver and huddle,

feed bag spills,

eyes seem without content

yet expressions aware

of eastern bite,

no other sounds

snow muffled nature

coating dry stone walls,

beneath wool they wait

moving agile on stick legs

through thickened drifts,

spring and lambs

a distance away,

reliant now

on human form

red land rover and flickering

headlights

Andy Magee farm

magpie tales statue stamp 185