Any hill will do
They all are sacred, but
Dunkery at twilight
As mist seeps up from
Purple heather
Horizons broaden out
And valleys settle into shadow
Sheep bleat, asking for their land back
But we walk the broad path
To a scattered mound of stone
Skirting nervous wild ponies
As the sun paints them golden
Ponies never ask, it is always theirs
As it belonged to the mound builders
Five thousand years ago
As it belongs
And doesn’t belong
To us all
But especially tonight
To me and mine
Copyright © 2020 Kim Whysall-Hammond
Written in response to this weeks EarthWeal challenge “Sacred Landscapes“. Exmoor is very special and it’s highest point, Dunkery Beacon, even more so.
The Cheesesellers Wife 
I like the valleys settling into shadow.
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Thank you.
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As it belongs
And doesn’t belong
To us all
That’s the key line for me – that’s the sign of a sacred place – it belongs to everybody, and yet transcends that.
I’ve just looked it up and I’m 40 miles from Dunkery Beacon. We tend to head south to Dartmoor, but I’m going to add this to my list of places to explore.
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Exmoor is full of contrasts — high moor (the Chains) and pleasant green farming valleys. It’s one of our favourite places.
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I love the imagery. Excellent writing. 🖊
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:)
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The imagery here is fabulous. I love it when a poem tells me exactly where the writer stands.
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My poems alway start with a place, although the end product may have lost it sometimes….
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The poem is so nice!
And also the pic, did you click that? It’s beautiful!
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Thank you!
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Ah, this is so lovely. I could see it all. Gorgeous.
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😃
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they are all sacred! its the transcendence that makes it, methinkst.
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I agree.
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Have you Read Ring the Hill by Tom Cox? He would love this poem, as I do. Hills are definitely sacred. I love the way Dunkery rises in the first lines, through the mist and heather, the bleating sheep and skittering ponies. I especially enjoyed going back in time to the mound builders.
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Thanks Kim! No, I haven’t read Ring the Hill, although (having just looked it up) I certainly want to! I’ve always felt better at the top of a hill, so they are sacred for me.
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Sacred spaces belong to all. Your words convey the inclusion. (K)
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Thank you
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This poem and your earlier Exmoor poem could be set to music. I recently hear the folk song Caledonia and thought of your poem to Exmoor.
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Funnily enough, I’ve just started an online course about songwriting.
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How perfect! A wild pony neighed in my ear about it. ;)
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:)
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Lovely description and your point is fine — it is ours only in the sense it belongs to all. Glad you had that moment there. – Brendan
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Lots of times at Dunkery, over many years……….but sadly, not this year…..
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“Any hill will do
They all are sacred” took me to hills in my life, and mountains, too. Then as I read the specifics of your wild populated un-owned hill, I imagined mine at other times and places. Like the seashore, fenced and “no-trespass” hills must still dream of being sacred for all.
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Dunkery is owned and managed as a nature reserve by the National Trust — so has open access. Although you can walk over much of Exmoor on public footpaths
Elsewhere in England, you can walk to most hill summits if you use public footpaths, thanks to large demonstrations in the 1930s. I’m very grateful for that!
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Totally transported by this, to this incredibly beautiful scared place. So tangible – feel the belonging not belonging too.
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