A Rhythm of Cycles

You join us on (another)stormy night, but this one is moonless and black as tar. It is the night of the new moon – the Cold Moon or the Long Night Moon. The phases of the moon give us an opportunity to contemplate the intricate play of cycles all around us and how the mirror, challenge and provide direction for our lives.   

Journal entry:

“3rd December, Friday

The tops of the trees is Shakespeare’s wood have disappeared in cloud. 

A defrosted world, smothered in mist and pearled with beads of water.

The canal looks opaque.
 A soup of leaf and silt.
      Unfathomable and still.

A jackdaw hides in plain sight amongst the wind-left leaves of an oak
      As a rabbit sits up and watches us pass.“

 Episode Information

For more information about the phases of the moon and the names given to the moon each month, the Royal Museums Greenwich, have an excellent website: Why do we have special names for full moons?

In this episode I read the following poems:

RS Thomas ‘The Moon in Lleyn’ from his (1984) RS Thomas Later Poems: 1972-1982 published by Papermac. 

David Whyte ‘Faith’ from his (1990) Where Many Rivers Meet published by Many Rivers Press. 

Walter de la Mare (1922) ‘Silver’ multiple publishing. 

This is almost as southerly as the sun will get on its sweep across the eastern horizon. In a couple of days it will swing back northwards and march with us into spring and summer. 

General Details

In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.

Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. 

Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
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I would love to hear from you. You can email me at nighttimeonstillwaters@gmail.com