"En Garde" by Jackie Meekums-Hales

As ever, on the silent fields,

wind whipped across the fresh-mowed grass.

The grateful turbine blades were whizzing,

whirring

frantic hedge fronds

waving

as I peered across the waiting dale.

They laughed at sunshine

sneaking through the roof,

seeking out the shadows,

winding

itself around the quiet

of the corners,

while the clatter of a flap,

the thump of something

tumbling

and the rocking like a ship at sea

sent shivers down my spine.

the rolling storm clouds gathered

like an army on the hills,

preparing to attack.

En garde, pale summer skies,

the duel begins.

Jackie had her debut novel, Shadows of Time, published by Willow River Press in 2022, at the age of 71. A retired English teacher, she has always written as a hobby, with little time to attempt publication until retiring, though some poetry has appeared in anthologies over the years. She has had prose pieces published online, by Dear Damsels and Paragraph Planet, and in 2021 she and her sister, Bonnie Meekums, self-published a creative memoir on a post-was childhood – Remnants of War. She has a second novel under consideration and has completed a third. After many years in Yorkshire, she now lives in Somerset, where she belongs to a book club and writing group and enjoys walking, stimulating ideas for the next story…