The Hut in the Woods: Thomas A. Clark

well-built and pleasant

is my hut in the woods

set back in a clearing

a space within a space

steep-pitched under sunbeams

fresh water trickling by


a comprehensible

form introduced

into formal complexity

a place apart

having the gravity of

a place apart

with nuts dropping from hazels

intelligence of trout under banks

a glimpse of sky between branches

pale hills above willow catkins

economy among the desires

measure among distances


a shelf with a few books

a solid, well-scrubbed table

when light pours in

through the windows it builds

another space where walls

of shadow turn in the light

no footstep on the path

no throat cleared on the threshold

where every morning is the first

and every evening the last

dawn of the small birds

dusk of the pine marten


when I lean in the door frame

it is dark in the room

and I try to listen farther

out into mild weather

a dripping of mist under alders

the kettle singing on the stove 

silence, clarity, fragrance

deep moss under pines

where deer step trembling through

a few shards of cold light

into glades of wintergreen

in a delight of mornings

a place to come awake

to go out and come in

butterflies on the mallow flowers

bees in the wild thyme

a stucture light as its idea

the door propped open with a stone

Thomas A. Clark

Illustrated with drawings by Laurie Clark

poem first published by Moschatel Press

drawings first published in Mesostic Remedy

republished for Sweeney's Bothy

Bothan Shuibhne | Sweeney’s Bothy

Alec Finlay & The Bothy Project

commissioned as part of Creative Scotland’s
‘Year of Natural Scotland 2013’