At tidemill ruins
seagrass whooshes; ghosts whisper
by the salt-scragged tree.
Always a lone crow perched there,
his caws not quite of this world.
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#Tanka 41 — Tidemill and the Crow
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Sarah Potter Writes 
Last night I saw the antiques roadshow, they had a small book dating back to 16something, the writing was written in crow feather quills and was less than 1mm high!
Crows and their plumage rock the otherworlds
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Wow! I missed that but my husband watched it while I was doing some odds and ends before watching Poldark. I didn’t know they used crow feathers for quills. Writing that was only 1mm high would be near-on impossible to read in the poorly-lit buildings of those days! Still, doubtless the words were only meant for the educated few to decipher, or the King’s spies…
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I only caught a bit but apparently the guy has taken some Shakespeare’s text and doctored it to include his life experiences, it was tiny with 12000 words. I missed how much it was worth but loved the crow quill fact. One day soon I’ll use that. I guess you could make a quill from the feather of a wren if you needed to, such as if you were very small.
Hasn’t poldark finished yet? Haven’t we had enough?
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Wrens are so sweet. Those poor little shy birds would die of an heart attack, before you ever got feathers from them, but maybe a tiny fairy who wanted a quill pin might persuade them to donate the odd feather or two.
No, absolutely not enough Poldark 😉 I just love it and have heard a rumour that all 12 novels will be serialised. I’m also watching The Handmaid’s Tale and finding it both depressing and compelling. I found the novel very difficult to read and so am pleased to have it explained to me! Yes, I’m probably sad. I’d rather a good on-going series than a one-off movie any day, but I don’t watch that much TV compared to a lot of people.
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Mrs T and myself keep threatening to dip into the handmaids tale.
I revisited Northern exposure recently, the Alaskan comic drama from the early 90’s. So very good!!
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The Handmaid’s Tale isn’t something to dip into. Once you start watching it, you’ll either be totally hooked, or run a mile! It’s very scary, as it could happen, looking at how crazy some of our leaders are just now D:
I’ve never heard of that comic drama from the early 90’s. I’m not sure I even watched much tv at that time — not that I watch much now. Is it available on Amazon Prime? I don’t have Netflix.
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No idea, I got it on dvd second hand. It was always watched on the Tuesday in a daze after clubbing the Monday night before.
Bloody students!
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It definitely looks like a place where ghosts would whisper. As always I love it.
Good morning Sarah! I hope your day is filled with satisfaction.
bill
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Thank you, my dear friend 🙂
Good afternoon, Bill! Despite being rather sleepy today, I’m happy to have found enough energy to write a tanka. It’s perfect weather here. Sunshine, blue sky, and a lovely breeze. Not conductive to work, but to drifting and dreaming.
Wishing you a wonderful week 🙂
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‘ghosts whisper
by the salt-scragged tree.’ Wonderful imagery Sarah. And appropriate . We had 4 crows in the garden first thing.
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Thank you, Shey. I’m thrilled you appreciated the imagery 🙂 Lucky you, having 4 crows in the garden at once. Much better than hobnailed seagulls! I adore crows.
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SO laughing at my son in law’s sorry re a crow. They live not too far from a school and every day it seems to get hold of an old roll that’s plainly too hard for it, so it drops in their birth bath and comes back later when it’s soft…
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LOL, I just love that story. Crows are so very clever!
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Absolutely love this one, Sarah!
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Thank you, so much, Dale 🙂 To tell the truth, I love it, too! I’m sure that authors and poets are allowed that luxury from time-to-time, being our own worst critics…
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So very glad you do! Nothing better than finishing a piece and loving what we have created because you’re right… we are our own worst critics!!
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Love this Sarah! I love the ‘salt-scragged’ tree, what a great image, and of course the way you’ve conjured it, this sounds like just the type of place I’d feel at home.
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Thank you, Andrea 🙂 You’d just love this place. It’s so atmospheric and haunting.
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Oh I love this dearest Sarah, especially the ‘salt-scragged’ tree and the caw of the crow ‘not quite of this world’. You amaze me that with so few words to your evocative photos, you take me right there with you, to the point of feeling a slight lifting of the hairs at the back of the neck 😉 Wonderful! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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I’m so pleased you love this, Sherri. Perhaps you’ll feel a slight lifting of the hair at the back of your neck when you visit Tidemill with me. There really is something haunting, yet strangely beautiful about the place 🙂 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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