Commentary

This in turn depends on us being ‘centred’ emotionally, allowing all our senses to be fully receptive. Experiencing what is out there, means first going inwards to clear our mind of blockages and barriers. That is the poetic truth of the text.

By happy coincidence, the word ‘rode’, which appears as a mis-spelling on the guide post, has two further meanings that have fallen out of use: the landward flight of wildfowl at evening; and the clearing of a ditch or stream of weeds. There is therefore a literal aspect to the ‘other rode’ that reinforces the metaphorical one.

In formal terms the poem is a haiku.

- John Sewell