A frame within a frame
Distant ranks of jagged peaks
Line up in savage brilliance
And icy waves, pierced by undiluted light
Tear glimpses of insequent depth
Before dissolving in a soft lament
Hills of red and ancient, lizard backed
And frozen by the homeless wind
Conceal the ruins of an age long trampled
While at the centre stone and steel and wood
Converge to form the final frame
From which you almost see the World…
But faithless time turns days to moments
Claiming all its secrets with a blazing hearth,
A smile, a quiet repose…
Charlie Ottley, February 2011
