The Lord of Powis Castle
At Powis Castle a peacock struts
and the forecourt is bathed in welcome but unseasonal sunshine.
Outside the castle walls great banks of yews grow as densely and as prolifically as algae
carved into glorious mounds with Rubensesque bulges,
and secret spaces
hiding another, imaginary, kingdom.
A footpath through an ancient orchard reveals another view
and then another; variegated leaves
leading onto paths with blossoming rhododendron
perfumed azaleas
and other delicate flowers.
Close to the exit, a bronze peacock
presages its living prototype
and greets Marly's approach (or maybe his harem of three peahens)
with a rattling display of feathers:
the new Lord of the Castle.
(Yesterday, Marly Youmans, David Bonta (two writers from the US) and I visited Powis Castle in mid-Wales. As you can see we had a fine time. It was great to finally meet Marly (who I first encountered on this blog), and I was delighted to be introduced to David, too.)
and the forecourt is bathed in welcome but unseasonal sunshine.
Outside the castle walls great banks of yews grow as densely and as prolifically as algae
carved into glorious mounds with Rubensesque bulges,
and secret spaces
hiding another, imaginary, kingdom.
A footpath through an ancient orchard reveals another view
and then another; variegated leaves
leading onto paths with blossoming rhododendron
perfumed azaleas
and other delicate flowers.
Close to the exit, a bronze peacock
presages its living prototype
and greets Marly's approach (or maybe his harem of three peahens)
with a rattling display of feathers:
the new Lord of the Castle.
(Yesterday, Marly Youmans, David Bonta (two writers from the US) and I visited Powis Castle in mid-Wales. As you can see we had a fine time. It was great to finally meet Marly (who I first encountered on this blog), and I was delighted to be introduced to David, too.)
posted by Clare Dudman at 6:13 am
9 Comments:
Clare, I think we both had a splendid day, and I was so glad to meet you at last. And we had the perfect weather... Now you must come see me at home!
Hello Claire, just wanted to mention how much I enjoyed your report on Povis Castle; the gorgeous photos, the fabulous Yews (they look like loaves of green bread and, of course, the peacocks.
Thank you Marly, I certainly shall...one day.
Hello Nora. I am going to your native land pretty soon to see my son get married to Angelique - who is French too!
Félicitations à tout le monde!
Merci bien, Nora!
Lovely photos, lovely environs, and the company of lovely writers.
Okay, Clare, you are SO not going to believe this. One of my former college professors, Anita Mills, happened to mention that she had visited Wales on Facebook. Upon seeing Wales in her update, I thought of you and told her she needed to look up your blog. She did so and guess what? She happened to see Dave and Marly, who were in Wales for the same reason she and her partner Andrea were ... "for the launch of a poetry book and the exhibition opening of Clive Hicks-Jenkins' Retrospective at the National Library of Wales." Andrea even has pictures of Dave and Marly on her own blog here: http://carolinawrenpress.org/book-of-ystwyth-from-wales.
How is that for less than six degrees of separation?
Hi Poet's Lizard! Thanks for visiting - and you're right about the lovely writers!
Amazing, Mary! It is such a small world! I'm going to take a look at Anita Mills's blog now.
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