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
& on the backroad, new moon clutching the old, breath of frost as the stars start to grit through
November 25, 2025 at 6:08 PM
& on the backroad, new moon clutching the old, breath of frost as the stars start to grit through
& a tectonic sky, great plates of cloud - asbestos blue - levered in by 14.40, the long dusk of dark horizons
November 24, 2025 at 6:04 PM
& a tectonic sky, great plates of cloud - asbestos blue - levered in by 14.40, the long dusk of dark horizons
the local festive tractor run (charity donations this year for neonatal unit): airhorns blasting the route all round - end of the farming year, more gather & give, more working & fixing, it figures
November 22, 2025 at 8:42 PM
the local festive tractor run (charity donations this year for neonatal unit): airhorns blasting the route all round - end of the farming year, more gather & give, more working & fixing, it figures
late-afternoon, coastal reserve, that period when roosting is vocality & performance & then the lift & circle, barnacle geese entering sunset & staying there, whooper swans down to overnight, the whole brassy biophany loud & present *bonus goldcrest
November 22, 2025 at 7:34 PM
late-afternoon, coastal reserve, that period when roosting is vocality & performance & then the lift & circle, barnacle geese entering sunset & staying there, whooper swans down to overnight, the whole brassy biophany loud & present *bonus goldcrest
& gone 10pm the flailing goes on - the snap & grind & whine - the silver of the broad beech a resistance & defeat: what deadline & what dollar?
November 21, 2025 at 11:23 PM
& gone 10pm the flailing goes on - the snap & grind & whine - the silver of the broad beech a resistance & defeat: what deadline & what dollar?
& -7°c at sunrise but frost softening almost immediately in the distance the town's river casts off a layer of chill & reveals its course
November 21, 2025 at 8:38 AM
& -7°c at sunrise but frost softening almost immediately in the distance the town's river casts off a layer of chill & reveals its course
another gathering in black, yr funeral jacket showing wear
November 20, 2025 at 6:27 PM
another gathering in black, yr funeral jacket showing wear
& out at point of glisk lastlight flushing through when a heavy cargo plane roared out of the sun tracking NNE small snow on the tops & straggling grass along the burn holding wafers of ice
November 19, 2025 at 6:19 PM
& out at point of glisk lastlight flushing through when a heavy cargo plane roared out of the sun tracking NNE small snow on the tops & straggling grass along the burn holding wafers of ice
wind back as mist rises & thickens & in the rearview the vice of cloud closes & in front the headlights froth with pixels of vapour
November 18, 2025 at 6:01 PM
wind back as mist rises & thickens & in the rearview the vice of cloud closes & in front the headlights froth with pixels of vapour
& the sun intense in its fall at 16.00 then the long singe & blush as temperatures dipped below zero & the dark welled up & faded in
November 17, 2025 at 6:31 PM
& the sun intense in its fall at 16.00 then the long singe & blush as temperatures dipped below zero & the dark welled up & faded in
lunchtime & rooftiles retain frost which pertains too in sheltered nooks of garden the sparrowpeople puff feathers & face the sun from barbed depths of hedge
November 17, 2025 at 12:50 PM
lunchtime & rooftiles retain frost which pertains too in sheltered nooks of garden the sparrowpeople puff feathers & face the sun from barbed depths of hedge
& through the riverfield (its strange flat line of stones punctuated by hawthorn), soft & waning deepautumn, squeaking of long tailed tits & buzzard issuing key from nearbare larch, wheeting nuthatch deep in cover
November 16, 2025 at 5:35 PM
& through the riverfield (its strange flat line of stones punctuated by hawthorn), soft & waning deepautumn, squeaking of long tailed tits & buzzard issuing key from nearbare larch, wheeting nuthatch deep in cover
the consolations of insomnia
November 16, 2025 at 4:32 AM
the consolations of insomnia
& the new wind welcome & clean, fieldfares spend the afternoon flitting ash to hawthorn; follow the burn a spell crunching leaves & sending up woodpigeons, come back having seen goldcrest flit, one lousy blur as proof
November 15, 2025 at 5:53 PM
& the new wind welcome & clean, fieldfares spend the afternoon flitting ash to hawthorn; follow the burn a spell crunching leaves & sending up woodpigeons, come back having seen goldcrest flit, one lousy blur as proof
& the notice to quit arrives finally, the postie quiet (he has delivered several before yours), sheets whip in a cold wind as you sign for it, & corvids rasp, go as-the-crow-flies south over the site of a small clearance
November 14, 2025 at 5:54 PM
& the notice to quit arrives finally, the postie quiet (he has delivered several before yours), sheets whip in a cold wind as you sign for it, & corvids rasp, go as-the-crow-flies south over the site of a small clearance
& you take overwhelm downhill & leave it there inhale cool air & listen to the fields pop in drainage & watch the grey burn surge & hillside lights flicker through rusted trees the sky drains light from the land to glow & darken
November 12, 2025 at 6:13 PM
& you take overwhelm downhill & leave it there inhale cool air & listen to the fields pop in drainage & watch the grey burn surge & hillside lights flicker through rusted trees the sky drains light from the land to glow & darken
& 12 hours into deluge (the hissing of water, a whitenoise rushing beneath oversound), the backroad half-flooded inching back, we all creep & inch like water: you seep home amid the rise
November 11, 2025 at 6:15 PM
& 12 hours into deluge (the hissing of water, a whitenoise rushing beneath oversound), the backroad half-flooded inching back, we all creep & inch like water: you seep home amid the rise
& though you only find space as light slips & rots it seems you work on avian time & it is noisy at purple hour as cloking pheasants alarm & blackbirds winterdink, corvids hold quorum & the robin repeats dawnsong - headlights on nearfarms swing: all prepare for dark
November 10, 2025 at 6:06 PM
& though you only find space as light slips & rots it seems you work on avian time & it is noisy at purple hour as cloking pheasants alarm & blackbirds winterdink, corvids hold quorum & the robin repeats dawnsong - headlights on nearfarms swing: all prepare for dark
& aching brood of afternoon lightens late & the youngwood rings tinny with voices of coaltit & goldcrest a line of starlings passes messages up & down itself black smoke issues behind the ridge & a diesel engine deepens sound & fades
November 9, 2025 at 5:48 PM
& aching brood of afternoon lightens late & the youngwood rings tinny with voices of coaltit & goldcrest a line of starlings passes messages up & down itself black smoke issues behind the ridge & a diesel engine deepens sound & fades
& the sun inconstant, coming & going in patternless interludes - rainbows blaze & fade above patrols of grey heron - & as it steadies to leave picks out corvids wheeling to roost
November 8, 2025 at 5:41 PM
& the sun inconstant, coming & going in patternless interludes - rainbows blaze & fade above patrols of grey heron - & as it steadies to leave picks out corvids wheeling to roost
smokestained, 2 nights after full, unmoved by friday night fireworks
November 7, 2025 at 10:59 PM
smokestained, 2 nights after full, unmoved by friday night fireworks
Grasmere today on student field trip - dwelling perpectives & 'taskscapes' - & managed to disappear for 10 to buy Ghosts of the Farm @nicolawriting.bsky.social from @samreadbookseller.bsky.social - winding back towards M6 & the weekend...
November 7, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Grasmere today on student field trip - dwelling perpectives & 'taskscapes' - & managed to disappear for 10 to buy Ghosts of the Farm @nicolawriting.bsky.social from @samreadbookseller.bsky.social - winding back towards M6 & the weekend...
& everything post-storm is strange: marbled skies & milky floodgrounds: a great white egret (so rare here) apppears & is gone, landmarks mirror & seabirds crowd submerged pasture - grey herons everywhere so long as you tilt your head
November 6, 2025 at 5:37 PM
& everything post-storm is strange: marbled skies & milky floodgrounds: a great white egret (so rare here) apppears & is gone, landmarks mirror & seabirds crowd submerged pasture - grey herons everywhere so long as you tilt your head
afternoon meeting online - sudden whistling call & you turn off your camera to grab a camera: ked kite looking right in at you
November 5, 2025 at 5:35 PM
afternoon meeting online - sudden whistling call & you turn off your camera to grab a camera: ked kite looking right in at you
& no moon only the rare strata of light pollution - conditions need to be exact for the ghost of a small town to churn as breath on the horizon
November 4, 2025 at 6:29 PM
& no moon only the rare strata of light pollution - conditions need to be exact for the ghost of a small town to churn as breath on the horizon