So barren and bare
Sacres me with its sense of isolation
Leave-less trees, dead shrubbery scars the landscape
The wind bites through the boulders that shield me from the sudden snow flurry.
Old Man
Sits atop the slate,
Spoil heaps spill still from the rugged ruins of derelict mines.
Firm footsteps back toward the lake to see the sunset skim the surface of the water.
©Alison Jean Hankinson
I used the image called “Winter trees at Coniston” by Fay Collins.
This was written for poetics d’Verse
It is also Day 17 of Napowrimo.
Share this:
Hues of Hankinson 
The barren landscape have it’s own beauty…. love the old man who seems to be one with the landscape.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Old man is the name of the mountain at Coniston, he is very well known, in my younger days I scaled him…
LikeLike
Arthur Ransome wrote about the Lakes in his books the Swallows and Amazons series…the Old Man was the inspiration for Kanchenchunga in his books. The parents in the book called it the Matterhorn. XX
LikeLike
Oh, you’ve made me shiver. You really capture the bleakness of this picture.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lots of s words in this one. Makes me think of sleet, snow, and of course slag.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice use of “skim” in this phrase about the sunset: “the sunset skim the surface of the water.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
You did a wonderful job of depicting a bleak, cold landscape!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh Alison. This is just gorgeous and bleak in the way that bleak scenes can be. Excellent work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much. The picture was so good to use. XXX
LikeLike
You painted the desolation with biting precision, contrasting with that sunlight skimming the water’s surface ~
LikeLiked by 1 person
Coniston town and the lake is pretty and lively in contrast it is like going from the first movement of the Pathetique to the wave motif in Fingals cave. In fact I feel the need to go visit Coniston some time soon. XXX
LikeLike
This desolation does have a certain appeal. Thought maybe this was the aftermath of the fires in California!
Dwight
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the sunset skimming the water’s surface. Well done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The landscape in this picture is ‘barren and bare’ but I love the golden glow on the left-hand side, which seems to be leading the observer to the edge of the lake, which you have captured in your poem, Alison – like a film. I love how you’ve captured the cold in ‘The wind bites through the boulders that shield me from the sudden snow flurry’.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you KIm. XXXXXX
LikeLiked by 1 person
You write of a desolate landscape well Alison, and then remind us of the hope of seasonal regeneration to come, of the sunset sun skimming the water.
Anna :o]
LikeLiked by 1 person
Much love to you. XX
LikeLike
I loved your write and your selection of image.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You wrote to this image perfectly!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much. XXXX
LikeLiked by 1 person
😊
LikeLike
Spring is coming but winter doesn’t let go easy.
LikeLiked by 1 person