1) 1983 : Balestrand
Boarding from the jetty
at Kviknes hotel,
a boat along the Sognefjord
scenery unparalleled.
The Longest, the deepest fjord.
Athrill at dramatic setting:
Indigo water, cliffs, waterfalls,
circling birds, a gentle breeze,
grateful for remembered hat and shawl.
Others talked, drank, ate,
herring, cabbage, bread, wine;
I stared for hours, drawing it in,
landscape ineffable, vision sublime.
That astonishing, deepest, fjord.
2) 2007 : Dambovicioara Gorge
Heart-stopping road from Bran Castle,
taking in the mountain snows, far-off villages.
Approaching the wild canyon,
that imposing opening, an abiding image.
Senses tingling in apprehension.
Through winding, narrow, steep-sided ravines,
emerging into a wider grassy plateau,
high rock formations, conifers, streams,
there to lunch on avocado, asparagus, beetroot, fennel tea, pistachios.
Such a splendid picnic we had.
3) 2018 : Danube Delta
From Tulcea, ancient city on the Danube,
along the Delta, stillness under an immense blue sky,
waterfowl, reeds, lakes, miles of lily pads,
banks of willows, poplar, and all the while,
soft lapping of waves, wispy reflected clouds.
Stillness under an immense blue sky.
South through densely wooded highlands to Babadag,
where my grandparents stayed in a cottage by the lake.
They read, made the fire, listened to the radio;
they would never know a time as close, as free,
before the world crashed in upon them, blow-by-blow.
In the cottage by the lake, just the water, the trees.
Peter Jennings
East Sussex
March 2025
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