I wrote this having sat in the shadow of the ancient St Bridget's Church, West Kirby.

The Church is a place of worship dating back through history. The Viking gravestone discovered there is a testament to that.

It was November the 8th.

The trees were finally shedding their trees onto the ground and graves below.

Winter has finally arrived and the process of renewal is at its very beginning.

The accompanying photograph was taken on Cubbins Green, on the same day, a short walk from the Church.

Written & read by Paul Carmichael.

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Take Flight is a meditation on the quiet courage of solitude. Standing before a lonely lighthouse beneath an immense night sky, we discover that freedom is not found by escaping the world, but by allowing the mind and spirit to journey beyond fear. The lighthouse becomes a symbol of steadfastness amid uncertainty, whilst the stars and sea remind us that imagination, memory and hope are limitless. It is ultimately an (hopefully) uplifting reflection on resilience; that even in our darkest moments we possess the extraordinary ability to lift ourselves beyond the horizon of the present and discover new possibilities within ourselves.

With Take Flight I consciously wished to explore structure, principally the structure of the Sonnets of Shakespeare.. I borrowed one lesson directly from the sonnets: the volta. Rather than simply repeating an image, each verse turns it slightly until the chorus acquires a deeper meaning.

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The other day I found a book. "Narrative Essays of Today". Published in 1964 it is stamped as being the property of Whitefield County Secondary School, Albert Road, Manchester, and features writings by Orwell, Wodehouse, Dylan Thomas and many others.

I took it with me on a lengthy dog walk. I also had a pencil.

Whilst Stanley sat poised, observing the squirrels, ready to give them the telling off he thinks they deserve, a story came to mind.

A couple. A girl and a boy, then a man and a woman, who meet in a field. It was all very Thomas Hardy in my imagination.

They met, loved and grew in the field. And even though they're long gone their spirit remains on the wind.

This is their story.

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