Open Secrets
Poetry
by James Brooks-Pendlington
The Dandy of Crows
They tell me I’m theirs
But I am mine.
Forced out of my home,
On crests remain.
Extinct in the west,
Now I’ve returned,
To rugged coast headland,
Freedom to roam.
They view me by thrift,
They name me by call.
I am the Chough,
Kernow I’m home.
As black as jet rock.
High heels I strut.
Alizarin lippy,
The dandy of crows.
Gannel Elver Eels
The Elver moon hangs low.
A sliver of glass
That casts no light.
The flooding tide
Creeps in invisible,
Carrying an army
of Sargasso ghosts.
Journey’s end is in sight,
Or not,
For the lake is green soup.
Still, they know the way.
Restless coots bicker,
Breaking peace of quiet night,
Unaware of the travellers
Pitching up below.
When the time comes,
Many moons from now,
Back to the sea they’ll go.
Sennen
A touch of cobalt
Atlantic chill
Shore wracked kelp
Clear sea glass.
Sun bleached shell
Bracken unfurl
Sheer cliff
Rolling swell
Death dive gannets.
Granite boulder wall
Lichen covered
Horses toiled here
Land worked hard.
This is Cornwall,
End of the earth.
Coming Home Trees
Driving the A30 black river
Back from up country.
In blinkless gaze
Where miles slip by nebulously.
Predictable rain
Yet to appear.
Just give it time,
The west’s green fields
Come at a price.
Then over the peak we spot them.
Under Toy Story sky,
Mirrored by field clouds
That graze sunlit hills.
Our sentinels stand
Together to welcome,
And give us
Warmth in our hearts,
For we know where we are.
Give us a bow
As we pass,
Steadfast old friends.
Right side of the Tamar,
Now we are home.
About the Author
James is a professional gardener who moved to Cornwall in 2022. He has little interest in being cooped up indoors so when he’s not working in the garden, James will be out in nature – Land and sea – discovering new places and observing the rich flora and fauna of Cornwall. His love of the outdoors was forged here on holidays as child where he spent his days catching grasshoppers in meadows, crabs in rockpools and Pollock from harbour walls. And now, having finally moved to Cornwall’s North coast, all of Cornwall’s wild secrets are right on his doorstep waiting to be re-discovered. In this set of four poems, James describes wild Cornwall’s ‘open’ secrets. That is to say, places and creatures anyone can see on a walk in Cornwall if they take the time to look or venture off the beaten path.