My latest find

The feather of a buzzard.

I had just seen a buzzard, leaving the trees by the footpath to cross the fields. Jabi and I carried on, walking some way to find a suitable place to do yoga. This was not easy as although the sun was shining, it was breezy and the wind was chilly. Once I had my site, we remained there for an hour or so and I found this feather on the way back.

It is so strong, it was like holding a miniature sail in the gusting wind. The quill would make a pen, a pen with a fine nib, for detailed drawing. I sniffed at it to see if any bird scent remained, but not enough for my nose to sense.

I think of a Ted Hughes poem, 'Hawk Roosting'. I think of it often when I see the birds of prey in their trees. This, I love this:

...It took the whole of Creation

To produce my foot, my each feather:

Now I hold Creation in my foot

Or fly up, and revolve it all slowly -

He sees the bird as the ultimate narcissist. So independent and perfectly attuned for his niche. Indeed, Hughes tends to see other animals as the peak of creation - the pike, the thrush, the skylark - each one perfect in its own right. Interestingly, he thought of his poems as animals. Famously, thought is depicted as a fox, but he's even more explicit when he says that he wanted his poems to be so vivid that, like animals, they have a life of their own.

I think he achieved that.