Worth a Hundred Pictures?

In the 'Autumn' section of Vectis words will be entwined (more on this to come) with the images I've gathered. I have come to decide that the text in the second section should be in the form of poetry that returns to and explores in other ways the themes developed throughout the other written sections of the book. I am writing the poems as a cycle, jotting down various phrases and images, trying to assemble something. Here is a first taster:

Under This Bridge

The world is browning

Where once it was blue and green

Soon it will be time for sacrifices

To recall the sun to the earth

But the memory of its warmth

Lingers still

And yes, it was under this bridge I sat

Sun to my face, Circle a to my back

And smoked in another life

Reading the signs in the ground

Knowing I was not the first

And sure I would not be the last

Is that not where happiness aims?

Is that not faith?

Not to be the first or last

No glory or tragedy

But quiet persistence

Cyclic law, and the mystery of the word

I have also been working on a variety of images. One that I've finally got finished (it feels like a weight lifted from round my neck), is this one, an image from the first walk:

 

The process of touching up the outlines and individually colouring each leaf has taken an astonishing amount of time; I would guess maybe 12-14 hours. I won't be trying anything like this again if I want to actually finish this book.