Bluebells
By Gordon MacLellan
Honey poured and smoking,
Blue through the trees.
Breathe, if you can,
A scent so physical
It hits like a door.
Beyond “aroma”, beyond “perfume”,
That bluebell experience,
You taste, you feel,
You sense with all your skin.
Breathe if you can,
This essence of spring under fresh oak leaves.
And I breathe while I can,
For that bluebell haze could hold me,
Safe through all the summer,
Wrapping my heart in wild garlic,
White anemones, the sunlight drops of celandine.
For summer is coming,
In a snowfall of hawthorn petals
Leaving me hungering for that cool spring morning.
And summer burns friendship away
Like the flowersmoke of May.
Long, crowded summer evenings
Of other people’s picnics and laughter,
And a single pint lingers through the twilight,
Until, alone, I follow the bats home.
If I survive this beautiful season,
Find me in the autumn as the leaves fall.
If I survive this beautiful summer,
Call me.
Biography
I am a storyteller and artist based in Buxton, Derbyshire, UK. From a background in zoology and science teaching, I have been working as a full-time freelance storyteller for more than 30 years. I mix creativity with an ongoing connection to science through work as a Trustee for the charity Froglife among other projects. Previous publications include Sacred Animals (Green Magic Publishing, 2023), and Old Stones And Ancient Bones (Creeping Toad, 2015). A new edition of my environmental celebration manual Celebrating Nature is due out in 2023 or 2024.
Statement
As “Creeping Toad”, I work with groups to find ways of celebrating the relationships between people, places and wildlife. This work might lead to new stories about places, 3metre tall tree puppets dancing through a wood, a procession of extinct animals, or the simplicity of small boxes and creative organisation of children’s collections of found objects
Social Media
Blog: Creeping Toad
Instagram: Gordon MacLellan (@creepingtoad) | Instagram