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
& rise of full quiet moon (cold corvid moon?), 1st of 2026 (so long hill & river moon, time of moonlight flitting)
January 3, 2026 at 4:33 PM
& rise of full quiet moon (cold corvid moon?), 1st of 2026 (so long hill & river moon, time of moonlight flitting)
from Corrie Williamson, 'Mercy Me' in _Attached to the Living World_ (2025)
January 2, 2026 at 11:37 PM
from Corrie Williamson, 'Mercy Me' in _Attached to the Living World_ (2025)
purple hour & jupiter rising the day's ice & the night's moon pitted & cracked
January 2, 2026 at 6:33 PM
purple hour & jupiter rising the day's ice & the night's moon pitted & cracked
1st. Solway. huge skies & barbed wire. curlew & memento mori. lapwing & gorse in flower. moon 2 days from full.
January 1, 2026 at 5:24 PM
1st. Solway. huge skies & barbed wire. curlew & memento mori. lapwing & gorse in flower. moon 2 days from full.
& light poured out early, the year holed & sinking – candle lit in the window by 4
December 31, 2025 at 7:00 PM
& light poured out early, the year holed & sinking – candle lit in the window by 4
@nicolawriting.bsky.social - really enjoyed your Substack post from yesterday: great writing! - thank you
December 31, 2025 at 11:26 AM
@nicolawriting.bsky.social - really enjoyed your Substack post from yesterday: great writing! - thank you
last day of the year (how light aches in its rise), settle of thin frost (stiffen of laundry on the line), scent of diesel as a tractor lumbers uphill, birds on the feeder before you turn your back from filling it
December 31, 2025 at 9:10 AM
last day of the year (how light aches in its rise), settle of thin frost (stiffen of laundry on the line), scent of diesel as a tractor lumbers uphill, birds on the feeder before you turn your back from filling it
30 december & frost lies gone noon & low sun scripts shadows of trees fields are empty the sheep driven off yesterday as transfer of ownership comes quietly nearer that arbitrary date when everything & nothing will shift
December 30, 2025 at 1:23 PM
30 december & frost lies gone noon & low sun scripts shadows of trees fields are empty the sheep driven off yesterday as transfer of ownership comes quietly nearer that arbitrary date when everything & nothing will shift
nightwalk with squalling tawnies
flatcalm the bare trees
method-act wind
contact
contrail-moon-branch
flatcalm the bare trees
method-act wind
contact
contrail-moon-branch
December 29, 2025 at 8:34 PM
nightwalk with squalling tawnies
flatcalm the bare trees
method-act wind
contact
contrail-moon-branch
flatcalm the bare trees
method-act wind
contact
contrail-moon-branch
& pause to take stock, fresh vantage & slow constancy
December 29, 2025 at 5:26 PM
& pause to take stock, fresh vantage & slow constancy
& end of the sky's ebb-tide from the back step of the next step: 10 car loads (mostly books...), onwards towards a new year
December 27, 2025 at 5:39 PM
& end of the sky's ebb-tide from the back step of the next step: 10 car loads (mostly books...), onwards towards a new year
& lines of stately fieldfares work their way downhill; beyond their clucking all is quiet (the pool in the woods holds nothing but inverted sky) - teasel heads harbour still ladybirds, a Londonbound easyjet clips the moon & goes on
December 26, 2025 at 5:06 PM
& lines of stately fieldfares work their way downhill; beyond their clucking all is quiet (the pool in the woods holds nothing but inverted sky) - teasel heads harbour still ladybirds, a Londonbound easyjet clips the moon & goes on
& flat calm, silence until you send up five mallards to rouge in sunset; two pinkfooted geese pace & twist their necks to watch you go
December 25, 2025 at 4:40 PM
& flat calm, silence until you send up five mallards to rouge in sunset; two pinkfooted geese pace & twist their necks to watch you go
& christmas eve,
the village lights below &
farms above:
the small, & good
the village lights below &
farms above:
the small, & good
December 24, 2025 at 5:09 PM
& christmas eve,
the village lights below &
farms above:
the small, & good
the village lights below &
farms above:
the small, & good
& out as the sun is already below the larches' knees - the river & back - a buzzard crusing & then (truly bizarre) pipistrelle bat by december moonlight
December 24, 2025 at 4:41 PM
& out as the sun is already below the larches' knees - the river & back - a buzzard crusing & then (truly bizarre) pipistrelle bat by december moonlight
& contrast of late blue sky gave out to allow the new moon to cut through - that which will swell solstice to next year's 1st full - setting into late afternoon, slipping under the wire & behind the ridge
December 22, 2025 at 5:57 PM
& contrast of late blue sky gave out to allow the new moon to cut through - that which will swell solstice to next year's 1st full - setting into late afternoon, slipping under the wire & behind the ridge
December 22, 2025 at 5:56 PM
good solstice to you if that is your thing, folks
December 21, 2025 at 5:36 PM
good solstice to you if that is your thing, folks
& no brightness on the shortest day, instead a garland of sheepfleece & leaves, & a notional line crossed - mistle thrush calling from another
December 21, 2025 at 5:27 PM
& no brightness on the shortest day, instead a garland of sheepfleece & leaves, & a notional line crossed - mistle thrush calling from another
& close to sun-stilled but deepwinter it moves more quickly - flare 8.30 & gone 7 hours later: a buzzard sits parallel as you watch sun set (under empty jackdaw nests, 2 robins in angry chase through jagged tangle) - aftermath of clucking fieldfares, startled blur that may have been woodcock
December 20, 2025 at 5:34 PM
& close to sun-stilled but deepwinter it moves more quickly - flare 8.30 & gone 7 hours later: a buzzard sits parallel as you watch sun set (under empty jackdaw nests, 2 robins in angry chase through jagged tangle) - aftermath of clucking fieldfares, startled blur that may have been woodcock
& corvid hour in a keen wind they understand, that suits gather-&-break decisionmaking; floodpools silver flatly & you send a wobbling block of pheasants cloking into the youngwood; fields away village christmas lights pop on gradually, begin their night-time jitters
December 19, 2025 at 5:29 PM
& corvid hour in a keen wind they understand, that suits gather-&-break decisionmaking; floodpools silver flatly & you send a wobbling block of pheasants cloking into the youngwood; fields away village christmas lights pop on gradually, begin their night-time jitters
& night arrives before you are ready, chop firewood by head-torch, dome of sour twilight shows where the town lies & the sycamore gleams bare & green as you raise yr head
December 18, 2025 at 6:15 PM
& night arrives before you are ready, chop firewood by head-torch, dome of sour twilight shows where the town lies & the sycamore gleams bare & green as you raise yr head
all day it was evening - gloom & glimmer - water pulsing powerfully, wavering & searching, overtopping ditches or flung high in HGV wallow & wash - & yet the fierce winds warm, ripping agri-wrap & testing twine securing gates: a hunker down & wait but a strange version, unwinter
December 17, 2025 at 9:54 PM
all day it was evening - gloom & glimmer - water pulsing powerfully, wavering & searching, overtopping ditches or flung high in HGV wallow & wash - & yet the fierce winds warm, ripping agri-wrap & testing twine securing gates: a hunker down & wait but a strange version, unwinter
'a dry day for once,' a neighbour says, though it is anything but: land pooled, soaked, engorged & infused with water - by evening the air floods horizons with ghostly walls of it, & in your headtorch it swarms & sways, you walk underwater
December 15, 2025 at 5:44 PM
'a dry day for once,' a neighbour says, though it is anything but: land pooled, soaked, engorged & infused with water - by evening the air floods horizons with ghostly walls of it, & in your headtorch it swarms & sways, you walk underwater
& air thick with rain without foregound or background
all focus corner of the eye
all focus corner of the eye
December 14, 2025 at 5:49 PM
& air thick with rain without foregound or background
all focus corner of the eye
all focus corner of the eye