The Second Langport Moot

It’s been five years since David Cloke of East Coker Poetry Group convened the first Langport Moot. I wrote about it here.
This time, seventeen of us gathered in perfect weather at Great Bow Wharf in Langport last Friday for another great day of walking, observing, writing and sharing. We began with short introductions to three poetic forms: haiku (me), found poetry (David) and ancient Chinese four-line rhymed poems (Wendy). During a long lunch-break we explored this delightful small town and its waterways. Every bench by the river was occupied by someone busy with pen and notebook. Later we returned to Great Bow Wharf to share our ramblings. Graeme from Fire River Poets invented a new form, which I named the Ryan. Diana made us all laugh with her poem about two neighbouring local businesses, a dance studio and a foot clinic. Someone wrote a lovely memory of Caroline Mornement, a supporter of East Coker Poets, who was at the first Langport Moot and drew water-birds in her notebook, being an artist rather than a poet.

Artesian tubewell sunk by Legrand & Sutcliff Bunhill Row London 1878

A Ramble in Langport

down Moor Lane to the moor
feathery clouds
thistles turning to thistledown
a bridge with missing planks
and sagging handrail
a green train crossing the viaduct

In the Walter Bagehot Town Garden
tall daisies and feverfew in the shade
of an ash with six trunks
here lies the Invincible
eight-inch cast iron
centrifugal pump

it saved Langport
from the 1960 flood
with the help of seven green goddesses
I have a picture of my nan
says the gardener
playing on it in 1934

down Stacey’s Court to the river
a boat broken and grounded
purple loosestrife by the waterside
two white butterflies
engage in their chaotic
intricate choreography

by a bend in the river
I find the Langport Lighthouse
and I find a poem

     Light on which we stand
     is as the tides
     light connects

     flashes on a rising tide
     an SOS on a rising sea
     – what happens next?

My thanks to all the participants, especially David for getting us together and Diana for getting me to Langport now that there is no bus service from Wells.
On Saturday I wrote two Ryans!