St. David’s Head

What words should I use to describe the heather
That grew on St. David’s Head this summer?
Magenta and mauve, maroon and violet,
Fuchsia, indigo, lavender and lilac.
And the green of his halo of fern and grass
The yellow chaplet of ragwort and gorse.
But, oh, the purples of St. David’s heather
Will bloom in my memory forever!

— London, September 2024

• • • • •

I have visited St. David’s Head (Penmaen Dewi), the most westerly point of the Pembrokeshire peninsula in Wales, many times, and written several poems set in its surroundings; but I have always been there in late summer or early autumn. In 2024 we arrived in the early August of a late-arriving summer after a wet spring, and the heather, always beautiful but usually turning to orange with the return of autumn, was at the peak of its beauty. Or, rather, I can’t imagine it being more beautiful. I don’t remember being in a landscape closer to my idea of the Garden of Eden.