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.