Groundtruthing
Di Slaney
“…in archaeology, the practice of visiting sites on foot in order to verify data gained by remote-sensing technologies.” Robert Macfarlane on X, 10 Mar 2017
They say see how the land lies
but I don’t think it does, I think
it’s always honest with us. Look
at this green field, my feet the brink,
histories trampled into folds,
my toes on knolls, heels sinking
silted, guilted, glutinous, filtered,
downdowndown, layers winking
shy, come by, come feel, dirt-past
dirt-then, touch-close touch-when, kinks
of time through earth where worms
and moles keep faith. Let’s dig, unchink
the pieces waiting for us, all those little links.
Di Slaney lives on the edge of Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire where she runs livestock sanctuary Manor Farm Charitable Trust. Her poems have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4, widely published and anthologised, and highly commended in the Forward Prize 2016, Bridport Prize 2020 and Rialto Nature & Place Competition 2025. Her collections Reward for Winter and Herd Queen are available from Valley Press, along with pamphlet January Conversations, with Dogs.