excerpt from 'Underland: A Deep Time Journey' pp. 114–116 (329 words)
excerpt from 'Underland: A Deep Time Journey' pp. 114–116 (329 words)
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[Robert Macfarlane and Merlin Sheldrake have been walking in Epping Forest, and are preparing to camp for the night] People begin to emerge from the shadows of the trees in ones and pairs: friends of mine and friends of Merlin, friends of our friends, invited by social network, by text, by phone, zeroing in on our location using GPS. One brings a harmonica, two bring guitars, and Merlin’s brother brings two sets of bones and a small set of hand drums. Moths dance around the flame. Satellites blip above us. The red landing lights of planes, visible through the crown shyness, cut paths between the leaves. I have a strong sense of the forest looming around and over and below us. I drink Merlin’s coca decoction, feel my mind rapidly sharpen. The fir works its magic of storytelling and conviviality. People talk, reestablish existing connections, make new ones, bring into being a temporary community in that fire-braced forest space. […] […] A young man whose nickname is ‘the Hand Owl’ plays bluegrass on his cupped hands alone, hooting and whooping. Folk songs are sung – ‘Nine-Pound Hammer’, ‘Seven Drunken Nights’, ‘Brown Trout Blues’ – with people passing chorus lines and verses from one to another and back again. Merlin plays the bones, clacking a beat for each new song. The night chills us and the fire warms us. Drums, songs, stories. The trees shifting, speaking, busy making meaning that I cannot hear. Fungi writhing in the birch logs, in the soil. I sit with my back to a birch log, feet to the fire, next to Tara. Tara is tall, gentle of speech, Greek. She is a singer. She grew up on a small island in the Mediterranean. She learned song and voice from a Russian émigré who had been washed up on the island by the tides of history. […] […] Later, Tara sings a sad song from her island, and my heart breaks a little. The flames die to purring embers. |
| appears in search results as | excerpt from 'Underland: A Deep Time Journey' pp. 114–116 (329 words) |
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