Kevin Harrison

A pencil case, sunglass case
or a holder of sorts
Canvas, already crushed underfoot.
The dirt is now part of its form.
moulded and mouldy.
Crushed from its plumped up boombox retail shape,
it folds in on itself to look like goggles,
leather edging, embossed metal label, canvas and dirt.

It’s the smell of wet woodland after a rain,
when the ground oozes mud and the trees’ scent is great.
Fell from a rucksack or trodden underfoot near a tree,
at a picnic when a sudden rain cloud put out the fire
and sent people packing.

Left to itself at the end of a summer,
leafy autumn piles land on it like a bed.
Later there is snow.
It slipped into hibernation.

Strong woven fibres that yield but hold,
drawing in soil, leaf mould and insects.
It is used as a plant holder to shield new roots,
weather a plant slowly into new ground,
a slowly disappearing barrier
between fresh compost and established ground.
Slow decay
to help protect new life.