(Leaf 52) – Reflection
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Carry Akroyd - Skylarks, screenprint (birthday card)
Skylarks are one of my favourite birds in Britain. The song of the skylark is very distinctive, and for me it is highly evocative of the English countryside, where I often went camping in summertime. I have a really clear memory (which has stayed with me over many, many years) of cycling alone along a deserted country lane far from any town or village on a long warm summer’s day of solitary, two-wheeled exploration, and seeing a skylark hanging in the sky directly ahead of me – singing its heart out into the clear blue stillness of that beautiful day. I was sure it could see me from that high vantage. And at that moment, it felt like we were the only two living creatures communing in that calm, sun-drenched landscape. Forged from that fleeting moment – transiently lived, but transmuted into a lifelong memory – burnished like gold, and borne ever-after; a warmth within the soul.
Memories return
– the skylark’s song.
