Sometimes I sit in the garden,

close my eyes and listen.

The traffic zooming by with its own rhythm.

The wind picking up,

the coolness against my skin,

and in my ears the sounds that carry from the fields.

Dog walkers calling and their hounds

the noise of children yelling

the leaves and branches rustling.

And high above the roar of engines as a plane comes into land.

Then all seems still until I hear what underpins it all,

birds singing softly and then obscured

as the cycle begins again.

***

We are extremely grateful to the Third Year Illustration students at Edinburgh College of Art, and Harvey Dingwall for making this collaboration possible. The Citizen Writing Group is part of Citizen, our flagship communities project which is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and through the PLACE Programme (funded by the Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh Council, and the Edinburgh Festivals, and supported and administered by Creative Scotland).