Dreams of Star Carr. Dark Mountain, Issue 28, on Uncivilised Art…

I found the bones of the fox, the crow and the tiny roe deer fawn in the burning August of 2022. The fox had succumbed in a woodland hedge, the crow in a scorched hilltop field, and the remains of the fawn were scattered along an ancient track. The flies had been busy. This evening, years later and in the driest spring for over a century, I put the sternum of the crow, a vertebra of the fox and a broken rib from the little fawn in an old tin and place them in the embers of a fire burning in the small pit in the garden. As the light fades, cow parsley and campion merge with the long grass between the birches. Using the tongs I scrape the embers from the centre and build them up around the blackened vessel. ‘Bones are the essence of the life they once held,’ wrote American author Terry Tempest Williams. The cinders glow fiercely and steam escapes from the two small holes punctured in the lid. Several thousand years ago, in Jutland, Denmark, a young person was cremated with the wings of six jackdaws and two crows. Further back still, again in Denmark, a mother was buried with her baby, who had been carefully nestled in the wing of a swan. It seems our ancestors well understood the transformative nature of burning and burial, perhaps singing softly as the spirit of one species smelted with another. Humans gained wings and flight, maybe jackdaws and jays were glad of hands. The tin steams. The vapour rises and mingles with the smoke. Far away rooks jostle to roost…

The beginning of my story published in Dark Mountain last week. Absolutely thrilled to have my work included in this beautiful publication, Issue 28 on ‘Uncivilised Art’. The full colour and beautifully produced edition can be purchased from Dark Mountain by following the link.