Dave Borthwick
@borthwickdave.bsky.social
Lecturer in Environmental Literature at the University of Glasgow's School of Social & Environmental Sustainability: ecopoetry, walking, place - environmental humanities
thank you, Cat
January 18, 2026 at 10:37 PM
thank you, Cat
thank you so much
January 18, 2026 at 10:37 PM
thank you so much
begin again. unfamiliar gradients & nooks that do not know you. the buzzard is a stranger & grey heron shows clean set of heels. a lochan floats rotting ice. hazel catkins figure given season: start there.
January 18, 2026 at 6:03 PM
begin again. unfamiliar gradients & nooks that do not know you. the buzzard is a stranger & grey heron shows clean set of heels. a lochan floats rotting ice. hazel catkins figure given season: start there.
back & forth along the lanes all afternoon (the guy runs the dump rolls his eyes & grins yr last trip of the day), pass fields of pinkfeeted geese (folded wings of slate & lime), skies glow indigo 15.00 (slide & rattle of shifting cargo)
January 17, 2026 at 8:46 PM
back & forth along the lanes all afternoon (the guy runs the dump rolls his eyes & grins yr last trip of the day), pass fields of pinkfeeted geese (folded wings of slate & lime), skies glow indigo 15.00 (slide & rattle of shifting cargo)
pause one moment at time light ekes itself out (the weightbearing sky), tired with sorrow & hope - & on
January 17, 2026 at 12:08 AM
pause one moment at time light ekes itself out (the weightbearing sky), tired with sorrow & hope - & on
darker than it looks (but before starlight sharpens), rush hour on the main drag drowned out by a tawny owl quibbling & squalling, testing what kind of night it is (bitter in tone)
January 15, 2026 at 9:00 PM
darker than it looks (but before starlight sharpens), rush hour on the main drag drowned out by a tawny owl quibbling & squalling, testing what kind of night it is (bitter in tone)
t: 1st thing, all under the waning crescent - a skite-on-ice morning of gather & frantic movement, grasping & stowing, & slow letting go
January 14, 2026 at 7:37 AM
t: 1st thing, all under the waning crescent - a skite-on-ice morning of gather & frantic movement, grasping & stowing, & slow letting go
-1: first thing, the land receding; above, the scattered grammar of movement
January 13, 2026 at 11:07 AM
-1: first thing, the land receding; above, the scattered grammar of movement
t -2. snowdrops unfurling lamps. the old & confidential turning to ash. night reeking in. familiar becoming unfamiliar.
January 12, 2026 at 5:33 PM
t -2. snowdrops unfurling lamps. the old & confidential turning to ash. night reeking in. familiar becoming unfamiliar.
no idea what that means, help me out
January 11, 2026 at 10:58 PM
no idea what that means, help me out
what does emborbed mean?!
January 11, 2026 at 10:45 PM
what does emborbed mean?!
& a house sparrow neighbour roosts above the backdoor, face to the wall & out of the wind, cooried
January 11, 2026 at 10:06 PM
& a house sparrow neighbour roosts above the backdoor, face to the wall & out of the wind, cooried
greywash, new water on old ice (the river working hard through its guts & straights, under steelspan & humpback - pause on the latter, eye-level to withered haws, blackthorns uselessly skewering raindrops)
January 11, 2026 at 6:12 PM
greywash, new water on old ice (the river working hard through its guts & straights, under steelspan & humpback - pause on the latter, eye-level to withered haws, blackthorns uselessly skewering raindrops)
& above frozen burn the gorse in flower - in the field beyond a big Navarro makes wide circles, window down - a small boy in his da's lap laughs as he is allowed to turn the wheel in a huge, empty field
January 10, 2026 at 6:08 PM
& above frozen burn the gorse in flower - in the field beyond a big Navarro makes wide circles, window down - a small boy in his da's lap laughs as he is allowed to turn the wheel in a huge, empty field
& a brief softening - rotting ice on roads & ditches, a warming the thermometer reports but you do not feel; the longroad's buzzard is at their usual stretch, monitoring treestumps the barnowl also knows
January 9, 2026 at 6:54 PM
& a brief softening - rotting ice on roads & ditches, a warming the thermometer reports but you do not feel; the longroad's buzzard is at their usual stretch, monitoring treestumps the barnowl also knows
& escape the screen late at time of last checks on the hill, time the transmitter renders its vertical ellipsis (a great spotted woodpecker broadcasts a sequence of gappy yeeps), headlights of yr partner's car shine warmly & on time
January 8, 2026 at 6:28 PM
& escape the screen late at time of last checks on the hill, time the transmitter renders its vertical ellipsis (a great spotted woodpecker broadcasts a sequence of gappy yeeps), headlights of yr partner's car shine warmly & on time
& dawn is a strip ripped east geese pass over as you scrape the windscreen bleak january backroad then headlights on glitter of unfestive frost
January 8, 2026 at 8:47 AM
& dawn is a strip ripped east geese pass over as you scrape the windscreen bleak january backroad then headlights on glitter of unfestive frost
not at all. it's a great aphorism!
January 7, 2026 at 9:43 PM
not at all. it's a great aphorism!
love the phrasing of this!
January 7, 2026 at 8:50 PM
love the phrasing of this!
& ragged icelines on the backroad's burn, blue to the north where snow claims a foothold; SW holds brightness & chill latest & last, pure cold rolling in upper air
January 7, 2026 at 8:44 PM
& ragged icelines on the backroad's burn, blue to the north where snow claims a foothold; SW holds brightness & chill latest & last, pure cold rolling in upper air
sixth. dry hail chased by thick, wet sleet. traction light flashing until tyres bite. a pair of little egrets hunker under wind. main drag a gritter named calvin-hair-ice.
January 6, 2026 at 6:02 PM
sixth. dry hail chased by thick, wet sleet. traction light flashing until tyres bite. a pair of little egrets hunker under wind. main drag a gritter named calvin-hair-ice.
bah & gah 2nd use of afternoon
January 5, 2026 at 6:21 PM
bah & gah 2nd use of afternoon