Saturday 17 November 2012

Rodborough Fields Under Threat


Rodborough Fields in Space and Time

I like the way the hidden springs gather force,
A wild winter rush down the meadow side,
The wind singing in the saplings’ rigging
On the water’s voyage to the treasured Frome,
Thence on to the Severn and the ocean.

One glance is enough to enhance our lives,
And to make us feel a part of it all,
Both spiritually and globally,
Impossible thoughts with pipes and culverts:
Diminished lives.

I like the way the path of a low winter sun
Highlights the shadow of ridge and furrow,
A medieval landscape’s palimpsest;
I can see the ghost of Piers Plowman,
His footprints fresh in the frosted fields.

One glance is enough to enhance our lives,
And to make us feel a part of it all,
Spiritually and historically,
Impossible thoughts with bricks and mortar:
Diminished lives.

So why not build homes on brownfield sites,
So that these new families will also
Be able to feel a part of it all,
Walking the fields with undiminished lives,
Not listening to the car radio,
Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”:
“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone,
They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.”

2 comments:

  1. Excellent! I'm glad you've been inspired by Rodborough Fields, I myself am working on a poem for that fine meadow and also thankyou for stopping me in the street on saturday and giving this green piece of card!

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  2. Thank you and please feel free to post your poem on this blog - the aim is for a collaborative approach. I have a meeting with Kel Portman of Walking the Land tomorrow and we will shortly have a website to keep things moving along a little more dynamically - details to follow.

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