A journey through the seasons with two adopted whippets, a poet and a camera
Author: whippetwisdom
The stories, poems and photographs on this blog are the original creative work of Xenia Tran. Inspired by life in the Scottish Highlands and in awe of nature she gives voice to the wisdom of her two adopted whippets Eivor and Pearl.
We’re walking through the forest at Easter, the sun is bright and warm. It’s the warmest Easter we’ve known since moving to the Highlands. Eivor walks beside us, touching my hand with his nose to let us know. To let us know, how good it feels to be here.
Pearl walks slightly ahead of us, sniffing the bark of a pine, touching a twig or leaf. Prints from paw and foot weave on behind us. Our eyes follow the movements between the trees across the water, where pairs of geese go quietly.
nature’s spirit stars flicker through the temple of this world
it’s good to breathe the scent of pine the freshness of our lingering snow brings winter romance to our time
the snow-capped mountain turns to shrine for seeking peace, a letting go it’s good to breathe the scent of pine
our spring begins to bloom and shine while snow-melt and the river’s flow bring winter romance to our time
the forest trail begins to climb we pause to watch the mountain grow it’s good to breathe the scent of pine
the air tastes pure, so sweet and fine our woolly hats and ruddy glow bring winter romance to our time
two seasons meet along fine lines we cherish both and deeply know it’s good to breathe the scent of pine bring winter romance to our time
This is our second contribution to this month’s Villanelle challenge at dVerse Poets. You can read our first contribution at A Voice that Knows and our third contribution Worth Waiting For has now been published on our sister blog Tranature.
A Villanelle is a French verse form consisting of five three-line stanzas and a final quatrain, with the first and third lines of the first stanza repeating alternately in the following stanzas. These two refrain lines form the final couplet in the quatrain (the Poetry Foundation)
Below is the complete version of the Villanelle:
it’s good to breathe the scent of pine the freshness of our lingering snow brings winter romance to our time
the snow-capped mountain turns to shrine for seeking peace, a letting go it’s good to breathe the scent of pine
our spring begins to bloom and shine while snow-melt and the river’s flow bring winter romance to our time
the forest trail begins to climb we pause to watch the mountain grow it’s good to breathe the scent of pine
the air tastes pure, so sweet and fine our woolly hats and ruddy glow bring winter romance to our time
two seasons meet along fine lines we cherish both and deeply know it’s good to breathe the scent of pine bring winter romance to our time
The prompt at dVerse remains open if you want to participate and there are now more than seventy contributions for you to enjoy.
With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Settings: f/2.8 – 1/320 s – ISO 100, f/2.8 – 1/1250 s – ISO 160, f/4.5 – 1/250 s – ISO 200, f/2.8 – 1/250 s – ISO 100, f/2.8 – 1/160 s – ISO 100, f/2.8 – 1/800 s – ISO 100 and f/4 – 1/800 s – ISO 160.
