Parting Shot

Hope Brings this Valley Together

Hope is a kind of boundary -

a truce between limestone and grit,

where outcrops and edges pause

and deep cut dales stop and sit.

Where honeycombed potholes scatter,

and old lead works rest in their pit.

Hope brings this valley together

where Derbyshire rock divides,

and Mam Tor's shivering face

and Blue John's glittering mines,

call city folk from near and far

to raise up their hearts, eyes and minds.

Hope is a true kind of knowing

when Derbyshire mists descend,

and Kinder Scout lies shrouded

and Dark Peak's a sinister friend,

that Jacob's Ladder rises still:

and all will be well in the end.

A poem by Leonie Martin 2020

Written in response to Arts Derbyshire's 'Ticket to Hope' project in Autumn 2020 and featured in Helen Mort's collaborative community poem funded by Arts Derbyshire and available to view at youtu.be/S5uTFz0XPpg

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Image: Courtesy Tim Hill Photography

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