Distant memory engraved on brick and girder.
These are the remnants of mill, canal and factory.
The soot laden, mean dwelling and bone cracking toil are laid like crude tattoos across the landscape.
Yet even here, amongst those satanic mills of Blake’s distopía, life flourishes.
The cess pit canals run with fish and tree and bush soften the hewn stone bank.
Intense white of gull punctuates the cold water, a note of grace amongst the linear decay.
There is a great beauty within this tableau, no less than anywhere else upon this small blue planet.
#rewildingbushcraft #rewildingneil #deepecology #irlamlocks #manchestershipcanal #childhoodmemory
Photo courtesy of the author