Pendle by Kathryn Southworth

Pendle

the hill is floating

that great bulk mirrored

by its shadow in the setting sun

the brow lifting

long flank fired

by orange-flamed clouds

where will it spend the night

until the witches bring it back

tomorrow morning?

Kathryn Southworth

Kathryn Southworth is a retired academic who now lives in London and Gloucestershire.  Her first collection of poetry was ’Someone was here’ (Indigo Dreams Press 2018) and she has a joint pamphlet ‘Wavelengths’ published by Dempsey and Windle (2019) and a further pamphlet ’Not Man’s Land’ forthcoming with Dempsey and Windle. She can be followed on Twitter @elmvillagepoet

About This Poem

Lancashire is my county of birth and I have always found Pendle a magical hill, seen from any angle, and a wonderful place to climb. I identify with it because an ancestor of mine was the only one of those accused of witchcraft in the famous 17th century trial and the only one to survive. There is a lovely “tercet trail” of poems through Pendle Forest to mark those who died.