tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75865285804429888402024-03-13T14:26:41.752+00:00The vanished hourPoems I've written over many years, accompanied - where I can find them - by appropriate 'complementary' images
All poems © Gordon Hutchins
Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-7711997730779242332019-04-17T18:29:00.000+01:002019-04-16T23:30:26.478+01:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DBVoqa8Dm44/VlCDr5QrhvI/AAAAAAAAAdY/dB_3O5dWKV8/s1600/TVH%2Bbook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DBVoqa8Dm44/VlCDr5QrhvI/AAAAAAAAAdY/dB_3O5dWKV8/s320/TVH%2Bbook.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">The Vanished Hour is the title of a small collection of poems which I published in 2014. This is available from Amazon, with royalties being donated to the UK Charity Epilepsy Action in memory of my son Craig, who died from SUDEP in 1998, and whose memory remains as precious as ever to Ann, myself, his brothers Alastair and Fyfe, the wider family and so many friends.</span><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0Hayton's Bent, Ludlow SY8 2BD, UK52.424993099999988 -2.705571100000042952.415310599999991 -2.7257411000000427 52.434675599999984 -2.6854011000000431tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-39246132635869969372019-04-16T23:13:00.000+01:002019-04-16T23:13:42.506+01:00Notre Dame<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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She stands, still. <br />
Stricken, shrunken,<br />
though not in spirit.<br />
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Now without a roof<br />
but with a closer link than ever<br />
to the heavens overhead.<br />
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Without a roof<br />
there is more illumination,<br />
and at least the hope<br />
that after this dark night,<br />
we might just see the light.<br />
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Might learn to count our loss<br />
as prized, as precious,<br />
discounting trash, and trivia,<br />
inflaming us to live<br />
for love and life.<br />
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Our Lady, still,<br />
has more to give.<br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-14146720672283333612018-11-28T18:28:00.000+00:002018-11-28T18:28:12.844+00:00THE BARRY BUILDINGS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The usual Christmas greeting, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">alongside many others,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">from my Alma Mater.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This year, a movie clip</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">starting with snow –</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">a startling and enhancing contrast</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">to the rich, red buildings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I watch and listen,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">as the images abound</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and memories are found.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dulwich. The Barry buildings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To the ordinary eye, extraordinary,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">but for me, for seven years,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">as for my thousand fellow pupils,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and those that came and went</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">before and after, just a backdrop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dulwich. The Barry buildings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Maybe just a backdrop,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">but ever-present: an anchor, a platform</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">that spawned, then steered, and shaped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">a love of learning and discovery.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So many places bring to mind</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">those questing and exciting years:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The North and South Blocks,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lower Hall, Great Hall,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">the sometimes narrow stairs and little windows,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">the Cloisters (now glazed in),</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Butt, the Comm, the Library.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">the unfolded and unfolding grounds,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">the Clump, the avenue of trees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And last of all, the Covered Courts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">where learning came to be examined</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">in summer days that soon would preface</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">another end of term or, after seven years,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">a close of schooling that was </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">singular and special.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here at Dulwich, with the Barry buildings,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">strangely, just a backdrop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>I was a pupil at Dulwich College between 1952 and 1959</i></span><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-6953118337956414152018-11-28T18:21:00.000+00:002018-11-28T18:21:41.000+00:00A time for sweeping <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have at last</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">swept away the leaves,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and laid them down to rest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The garden now is tidy, and at peace,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bedded down for winter,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ready for its sleep, for slumber.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I too will now lie dormant</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">through the time the garden needs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for restoration and renewal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In waiting, I will long for that revival, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for the joy, the thrill, the sheer delight</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of life returning, come the spring.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, this longing will not last</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">beyond my years, but then I ask:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is it just for me, the sweeping?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will life returning, come the spring,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">be there beyond my years?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or will our fears be cause for weeping?</span><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-1383303504398093252018-11-28T10:18:00.000+00:002018-11-29T12:35:48.960+00:00Standing still<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bf2vw8tBD98/W_5rOL23bEI/AAAAAAAABXU/psjWhqpZGDgvlEY8vtkJ3RboZiN19uUyQCLcBGAs/s1600/Chapel%2BBank%2BHouse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="142" data-original-width="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bf2vw8tBD98/W_5rOL23bEI/AAAAAAAABXU/psjWhqpZGDgvlEY8vtkJ3RboZiN19uUyQCLcBGAs/s1600/Chapel%2BBank%2BHouse.JPG" /></a></div>
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The house is empty now,<br />
its owner long since gone.<br />
With the windows ever dustier,<br />
and the garden running wild,<br />
it comes with some surprise to hear the sound<br />
of heating coming on.<br />
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It raises questions that you know<br />
cannot be answered, provoking<br />
further thoughts and fantasies<br />
that swirl around the past and present,<br />
and, even now, the future.<br />
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The structure stands;<br />
strong enough you’d say,<br />
but will the structure stay?<br />
It is a question thrown<br />
to the sky, the ground,<br />
the once so carefully tended garden,<br />
and all the land around.<br />
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Whose home was this when built<br />
more than a hundred years ago?<br />
And then, what life was there -<br />
through all the years - to know?<br />
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Once new, and proudly entered,<br />
the house became a home,<br />
a place of love and growth<br />
as two increased to three, then four.<br />
And more.<br />
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And being home, a place<br />
to gather and to bring together<br />
moments never captured<br />
at the time, but there for ever after.<br />
Moments both of pleasure and of pain,<br />
of stress and calm, of light and dark,<br />
of love, and welcome laughter.<br />
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A true and tried template<br />
for this, a small stone cottage:<br />
a perfect pattern<br />
for succeeding generations,<br />
at least until the last few years,<br />
when one, then two,<br />
then all would go; yes leave –<br />
while willing that the house<br />
might once more come to life.<br />
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And so, it seems, it has.<br />
Although the house looks empty now,<br />
with its owner long since gone,<br />
the windows ever dustier,<br />
and the garden running wild,<br />
it comes with some surprise –<br />
and joy – to hear the sound<br />
of heating, as before.<br />
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The sound of life, once more.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">November 2018, from January 2017</span></i><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-13311116555715247392018-11-17T10:18:00.000+00:002018-11-17T10:34:34.005+00:00Murmuration<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JBjYUF_iAq8/W-_pwJ2b1BI/AAAAAAAABXA/4ZWa6mvpGhAlsxiMETkYAkcOG3C2I-J7gCLcBGAs/s1600/Kemerton%2BLake%2B14.11.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="250" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JBjYUF_iAq8/W-_pwJ2b1BI/AAAAAAAABXA/4ZWa6mvpGhAlsxiMETkYAkcOG3C2I-J7gCLcBGAs/s400/Kemerton%2BLake%2B14.11.18.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the uncertain evening sky, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">both clear and cloud-strewn,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">with strands of sunlight</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">stroking the changing skyscape,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">it is at first a murmur</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">as they fly in, the starlings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A few to start, and then some more, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">followed by ‘fledgling’ flocks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">seeming to target the taut, tense skyline;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">gathering above the reeds, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and signalling as if by semaphore</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">for further flocks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They are collecting, quicker now,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">creating shifting shapes, growing greater</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">by the minute: countless congregations</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of extraordinary movement</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and complexity. Collision-free.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In these radar-rich surroundings</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the decibels are mounting</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">as the patterns thicken, seeming</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to grow denser as they swirl and spin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and somersault. An assault in every sense</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">upon our eyes and ears. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Speechless, we watch this avian assembly,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">in wonderment. Orgiastic and unruly,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">thrilling and visceral, it goes on and on,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">astonishing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And then, without a warning,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">it stops. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In their thousands, they drop down into the reeds,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to roost. The volume too declines to twittering, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to chattering, to murmuring.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then, nothing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is time to leave. In the dusk, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">we steal back in silence, thoughtful, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">humbled by this spectacle </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">or maybe what - whatever our beliefs -</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">we’d call a miracle. </span><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-62211822911973342172018-01-17T15:11:00.000+00:002018-11-28T10:05:17.791+00:00Castle in the air<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SlotzkLNdAk/Wl9nGJOmYaI/AAAAAAAABKI/KnVIvpz8ouYVIsWeMYZ_IjIo7RoxPGEpwCLcBGAs/s1600/Castle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="253" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SlotzkLNdAk/Wl9nGJOmYaI/AAAAAAAABKI/KnVIvpz8ouYVIsWeMYZ_IjIo7RoxPGEpwCLcBGAs/s320/Castle.jpg" width="276" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The castle tower reaches to the sky</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and oversees the river flowing down below.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Built laboriously, painstakingly,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">with technology that may be dated now,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">but in the forefront then,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the castle gave a view not so much different </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">from the view today. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Or so it seems to us, as we look up, and back,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">those many hundred years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And looking up, a thought:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">did they, those many hundred years ago,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">envisage, or imagine, the worldview we see now?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Could they, inhabiting that modern world,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">conceive the world today?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The landscape is the same,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">or nearly so. All that has changed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">is the way we take it in, the way</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">we travel through it, and transport it,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">by means undreamt of then,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to unimagined boundaries.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And so, we have to gaze</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and wonder how the scene will be</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">hundreds of years from now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Will the tower still be standing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and reach up to the sky?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What will be seen? and heard?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What known? What felt? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What feared? And why?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">31.12.2017</span></i><br />
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</div>
Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-53352372549292999262017-10-23T22:18:00.000+01:002017-10-23T22:21:40.072+01:00Grenfell<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f9aKHL6cR9o/We5cHOj2TMI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/qtQdA7xgDNYKz-xixmyC6xiLuTJ80r2dgCLcBGAs/s1600/Grenfell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="125" data-original-width="200" height="248" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f9aKHL6cR9o/We5cHOj2TMI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/qtQdA7xgDNYKz-xixmyC6xiLuTJ80r2dgCLcBGAs/s400/Grenfell.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The shell shames,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">towering above us</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and, by internet and television,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">tells the world</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">how we failed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Words do nothing,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">though they cascade</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">from every level,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">accusing, excusing, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">despairing, demanding,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and always crying.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Always crying.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And yet, from this dark place</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a seed is sown; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a strand of love caught on the wind,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that even prompts survivors,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">far and near, to a sort</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of thankfulness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Or, as with our son,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">simply to say </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he loved us.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So the darkest tower</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">can yet bring light, and balm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And the darkest hour,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">while weeping still, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">some comfort, and a kind of calm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">October 2017 – the fire at Grenfell Tower in June 2017</span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>in which 68 people lost their lives, and hundreds were injured.</i></span><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-70570696376309295162017-04-07T23:40:00.000+01:002017-04-07T23:56:55.360+01:00ANOTHER BRIDGE TOO FAR<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wVCKD1GGbV4/WOgUze4nwII/AAAAAAAAAys/LpFPGYKfzooJg3OIJHiQhTMwRjo5NbhlgCLcB/s1600/Daffodils.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wVCKD1GGbV4/WOgUze4nwII/AAAAAAAAAys/LpFPGYKfzooJg3OIJHiQhTMwRjo5NbhlgCLcB/s400/Daffodils.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Late March in Westminster.<br />
Spring is here, and with it daffodils,<br />
bright, beautiful and living.<br />
They bloom ignorant<br />
of the newly dead, nearby,<br />
mindless of a vicious edge<br />
that cut a life to death.<br />
<br />
Above, the sky is blue, and broad,<br />
and blessing, so it seems, the stretchered,<br />
injured lives below, victims of a vehicle<br />
that battered them so brutally.<br />
<br />
Around, the buildings:<br />
Big Ben, Westminster Bridge,<br />
and Mother of all Parliaments,<br />
nurturing and loving, like any mother,<br />
her offspring called Democracy,<br />
so viciously attacked.<br />
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Beyond the dead, though,<br />
reaction to an outrage<br />
that destroys its very self:<br />
shock, and shame and grief,<br />
but in the end contempt -<br />
for hatred now, for hatred here<br />
where “Earth has not anything<br />
to show more fair.”<br />
<br />
Utter contempt, then, for those parts,<br />
those places where there is no love,<br />
no reaching out, no sharing,<br />
of hands, and minds, and hearts.<br />
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<br />
<i>for March 22nd 2017</i><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-27745144315200801352017-04-07T23:34:00.005+01:002017-04-07T23:57:12.344+01:00Cleaning the silver<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YSmS4Q6ewLQ/WOgXwiinHmI/AAAAAAAAAy4/uIhEww40W5c8lr6sYRsjLYBb1sTB2LgiACLcB/s1600/Silver.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YSmS4Q6ewLQ/WOgXwiinHmI/AAAAAAAAAy4/uIhEww40W5c8lr6sYRsjLYBb1sTB2LgiACLcB/s400/Silver.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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Such as it is, the so-called family silver<br />
does, from time to time, need cleaning:<br />
it is a labour more of love than need.<br />
<br />
Tarnished, silver tells of fleeting time,<br />
tolling for a journey into darkness<br />
or remembered sadness.<br />
<br />
Polished, and brilliant, though,<br />
silver speaks of special times,<br />
reflecting glittering moods<br />
and moments.<br />
<br />
Each precious piece can shine and talk:<br />
engraved with names, with dates,<br />
or just initials, to mark a special day, event,<br />
or - on sporting trophies - record<br />
a prize of distant years. <br />
We treasure these, of course.<br />
<br />
Some pieces though, with no such voice,<br />
articulate a greater value:<br />
silver which, for want of better words,<br />
is everyday – the cutlery and other tableware<br />
that is a hallmark of the lives we live<br />
so thoughtlessly, a counterpoint<br />
to carefree family closeness<br />
at meals and other times,<br />
feeding and nourishing our love.<br />
<br />
The moments never noticed<br />
are the most momentous;<br />
the unrecorded times<br />
the most worth marking.<br />
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Brilliant or tarnished, then,<br />
safeguard the silver. That way<br />
from time to time, you’ll know<br />
that the labour – and the love - will show.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>February 2017</i><br />
<br /></div>
Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-16206391940841330212017-02-21T20:55:00.001+00:002017-04-07T23:57:24.169+01:00Out of keeping<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kes3aDYPiNQ/WKyos1F7GhI/AAAAAAAAAvE/S2tefatZQlEmf9p9BDEtEmQUZzD9E7yLQCLcB/s1600/2d..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kes3aDYPiNQ/WKyos1F7GhI/AAAAAAAAAvE/S2tefatZQlEmf9p9BDEtEmQUZzD9E7yLQCLcB/s320/2d..jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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White winter morning.<br />
You look across the river,<br />
this ancient waterway,<br />
and catch your breath.<br />
<br />
Through barest branches<br />
over open, shadowed, sunlit fields<br />
there is an apparition: strange, and new,<br />
not seen before: shining, cylindrical,<br />
resplendent and forbidding.<br />
<br />
You count six sparkling silos<br />
stretched across the skyline,<br />
and ask yourself<br />
if these striking steel structures<br />
are out of keeping with the landscape.<br />
<br />
They are of course a product<br />
of this farmed land - that’s ploughed,<br />
then sowed, then harvested. <br />
And more, they are a home<br />
for gathered grain. <br />
<br />
In keeping then, these bright,<br />
metallic, man-made guardians<br />
of the very food we grow:<br />
a part of rural life as much<br />
as fields, and trees and waterways.<br />
<br />
Look once again. The silos glisten.<br />
In the winter sun, they send a signal:<br />
it is time to look afresh, to think,<br />
and listen.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tuesday, 21 February 2017</span></i><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-72344644568833968552017-01-19T21:54:00.000+00:002017-04-07T23:57:51.913+01:00The Shooting Party<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iHyS9Z4D2qU/WIEzh1Mlr7I/AAAAAAAAAtA/3AScgwMLOYwdJjua8PGcftQO4B4r2DfFQCLcB/s1600/Shooting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iHyS9Z4D2qU/WIEzh1Mlr7I/AAAAAAAAAtA/3AScgwMLOYwdJjua8PGcftQO4B4r2DfFQCLcB/s320/Shooting.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The words imply a celebration</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">and that, perhaps, is what it is,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">this gathering of guns, and mostly men,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">with 4 x 4s, in these beloved </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">killing fields.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">In this new century</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">they use technology</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">to talk to one another</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">and target more precisely</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">their useless prey.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The shots ring out</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">and birds drop from the sky</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">to be retrieved by dogs - trained dogs –</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">in a long, time-loved tradition.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">A few birds get away,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">flying higher than they often do,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">but surviving for the moment,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">and for future moments,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">when they will once again </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">be targeted.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The odds, of course, are there:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">these fattened birds that can barely fly</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">make perfect targets for the wealthy, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">often unskilled shots.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">It’s as it should be, they would say:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">splendid </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">sport in perfect countryside.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Worth every penny </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">of the many hundred pounds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">paid for the privilege, the pleasure</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">of a good day’s shoot.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">And of the other creatures</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">that have a price to pay</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">we’d best not speak,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">or spoil the party.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The shooting party</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">.</span><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-82022947589253331462017-01-19T17:57:00.000+00:002017-04-07T23:58:14.607+01:00Chapel Bank<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gxW5cV16itM/WID9CJAlHrI/AAAAAAAAAsw/levPs5-IAAcRlraFFLluMR8yznZdWjPgwCLcB/s1600/1dd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gxW5cV16itM/WID9CJAlHrI/AAAAAAAAAsw/levPs5-IAAcRlraFFLluMR8yznZdWjPgwCLcB/s400/1dd.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">It was, once, a place of worship</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">standing small and neat and smart,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">but proudly, on the steep side of the hill</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">known still as Chapel Bank.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">And there it stands today</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">but with only half a roof,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">creating a closer link than ever</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">to the heavens overhead.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">It was a year or two ago</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">that the roof gave way,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">letting in illumination –</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">of perhaps a different kind –</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">from the sheltered, shadowed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">but protecting light afforded</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">by the chapel’s black and yellow,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">round-arch windows.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">And with the light</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">has come new growth:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">a crowded congregation </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">of ivy, bramble, holly, hawthorn </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">and much more,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">accompanied - of course - by elders. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Outside, the strong stone walls remain,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">begging the question :</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">what brought the building</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">and the people here</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">one hundred years ago, or more?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">And what then wound the worship down?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">From being a pulsing heart</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">of this community,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">a place of Sunday, if not daily,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">pilgrimage, the chapel</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">tells of change, and tolls for change: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">the transience that defines us,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">gives life meaning,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">and a beauty that is never strange.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Its remains a place of worship, still,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">on Chapel Bank.</span><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-56586180708340668452016-05-05T23:28:00.000+01:002017-04-07T23:58:26.930+01:00Unscheduled departures<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q1IHdQShyD4/WOgSGc524VI/AAAAAAAAAyU/dtw8q4JhYekX8pQZMRze4ZxNiRxtJ026QCLcB/s1600/Brussels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q1IHdQShyD4/WOgSGc524VI/AAAAAAAAAyU/dtw8q4JhYekX8pQZMRze4ZxNiRxtJ026QCLcB/s1600/Brussels.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These were journeys</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">they did not mean to make.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This a sunrise</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eclipsed within the hour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">by a late, and sudden sunset.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For some, these were journeys</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">treasured in anticipation,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to destinations some would die for.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For others, just a way to work:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a daily, often dreary journey </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">for which there are, now,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">no more days.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No holidays, or holy days:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">these Easter journeys, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">made routinely,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">or in hope and expectation,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">cross a too familiar path,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">but without a second coming.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Anger serves no purpose</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">here in Brussels</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On this grim and grey spring morning:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">pity and hurt, of course, but mostly</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">shame, deep shame.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What we feel for such departures</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">can have no other name.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">April 2016</span></i><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-31843764239745393812016-02-03T20:37:00.000+00:002017-04-08T07:51:11.785+01:00Alone<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qeZOAiUWCCg/VrJkdCDT5xI/AAAAAAAAAfY/Blhrdq7zoX4/s1600/alone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qeZOAiUWCCg/VrJkdCDT5xI/AAAAAAAAAfY/Blhrdq7zoX4/s1600/alone.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The view is constant,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">changed only by the light and day,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">not growing any older</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">as we all do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The viewpoint will remain</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">for years and years to come</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and for a while provide</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a daily destination</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">for one lone viewer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At first, she seemed asleep,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">almost in hibernation,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">but then the pattern surfaced:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a midday break,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">perhaps an hour long.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to sit, to sleep, to eat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Alone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sitting on the bench</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">beside her, we look for</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the slightest sign</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">she knows we’re here.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The gaze stays fixed, and distant;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the focus all within:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a frontier to a land</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">where entry is forbidden.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There must, though, once</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">have been an entrance:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">another place, another time,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">another life, another love.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And other people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We are not here</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to be alone, and so</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I reach across the bench</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to touch her hand.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">She turns her head</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and looking up, her eyes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">break into the softest smile</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">bathed by the gentlest tears.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It makes my touch worthwhile. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">January 2016</span></i><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-21904737482059694492016-01-19T19:56:00.000+00:002017-04-08T07:50:57.412+01:00Sizewell<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3jBSkJ0qs0Q/Vp6UHcGeDGI/AAAAAAAAAfI/PasVNMqfiWI/s1600/Image1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3jBSkJ0qs0Q/Vp6UHcGeDGI/AAAAAAAAAfI/PasVNMqfiWI/s400/Image1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Make no mistake - in unintended ways</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the name is apt: Sizewell.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The power is prodigious,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">almost petrifying, even when contained</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">within the massive halls</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that cast a giant shadow, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">looming in the haze</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">along this shoreline.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is a glaring contradiction</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of outstanding natural beauty.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Make no mistake - </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the contrast confronts you</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">when you look across</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">from Minsmere,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the cradling reserve</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">for so many thousand birds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and welcome wildlife.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Make no mistake – here the peace</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">is peace of mind, not silence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On this rich reserve,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">meticulously managed </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">over many years, life teems</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">miraculously at every level.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and often noisily.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Something, it seems,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to shout about, but quietly, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">from every blade of grass,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">or treetop leaf, or lap of water</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">on this caretaking mere.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Make no mistake – there,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">just along the shore, at Sizewell,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the giant, silent halls provide prodigious power</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">for another kind of life - for good it seems.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Their peace is of a different kind,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">but maybe not for peace of mind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>January 2016</i></span><br />
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</div>
Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-59751407708737906352016-01-19T16:45:00.003+00:002017-04-08T07:50:27.328+01:00Birthday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AI6-C9T5_ZE/Vp5n_-hPQ-I/AAAAAAAAAe4/-R-ELNIuRVc/s1600/Birthday.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AI6-C9T5_ZE/Vp5n_-hPQ-I/AAAAAAAAAe4/-R-ELNIuRVc/s1600/Birthday.JPG" /></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Spread smooth, the sand,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the beach, becomes a canvas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">on which the father</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">makes his mark –</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to celebrate the proud, the prized</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">first birthday of his son.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The sand-inscription reads</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">‘Happy 1st Birthday Hugo’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A glad and golden greeting,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a message to be treasured</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">on this still September morning</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of the calm North Cornish coast.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And Hugo? He will know nothing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of this private, public moment</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">for a few years yet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For us, observers, the words</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">will soon be washed,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">though never wished, away.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Their sight and sound will echo</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">down the days, the weeks, the months,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">foretelling and foreseeing little,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">even fading, yet offering Hugo,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">year on year,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">an unwritten birthday greeting</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he now will always know.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>December 2015</i></span><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-32655368379765181622016-01-19T16:24:00.000+00:002017-04-08T07:50:08.389+01:00Turnstones<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HlFQUJVFS_I/Vp5in7YqwgI/AAAAAAAAAeg/wIIXUcdo0xQ/s1600/turnstone%2B1.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HlFQUJVFS_I/Vp5in7YqwgI/AAAAAAAAAeg/wIIXUcdo0xQ/s320/turnstone%2B1.jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Even in sunlight, they’re hardly seen,.<br />
these handsome seashore birds.<br />
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Instinct makes them wary<br />
of predation, unwittingly disguised<br />
as they, in turn, peck about for prey,<br />
their camouflage complete.<br />
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Once seen, they warrant watching:<br />
doing what it says on the tin -<br />
turning stones among the rocks<br />
or along the harbour walls.<br />
Foraging for food.<br />
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They come and go, or so it seems,<br />
as they blend into the rocks<br />
and pebbled pools.<br />
Sometimes so static<br />
that you cannot tell them<br />
from the space they occupy;<br />
mostly, as they must,<br />
just turning stones.<br />
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You could watch away the minutes,<br />
taxing eyes, if not binoculars,<br />
spotting and unspotting them.<br />
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So then it comes with some relief<br />
when a gull or two intrudes<br />
and they flock into the sky,<br />
across the waves, then wheel and turn,<br />
only to resume once more,<br />
these incognito birds,<br />
their hiding and sustaining habitat.<br />
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Prodding, poking, pecking once again -<br />
and, like us, forever turning stones.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">December 2015</span></i><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-35671755648759024792016-01-18T22:36:00.000+00:002017-04-08T07:49:36.443+01:00Seeking home<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pRhJbVb8-iM/Vp1nFiUvtVI/AAAAAAAAAdo/73IOHSNef84/s1600/1b%2Bgalway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pRhJbVb8-iM/Vp1nFiUvtVI/AAAAAAAAAdo/73IOHSNef84/s320/1b%2Bgalway.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Legend lends a mystery<br />
to the river and its seafall:<br />
sad tales of a drowning daughter,<br />
taken by this relentless river,<br />
the River Corrib:<br />
taken surely unawares,<br />
for this is water that surprises<br />
by its force, apparent anger, and adrenalin.<br />
<br />
The source and destination<br />
flatter to deceive.<br />
For all the western weather,<br />
with its wild winds,<br />
the Corrib Lough lies nestled<br />
in the nearby hills,<br />
at times so tranquil<br />
that the silence deafens,<br />
and its beauty blinds.<br />
<br />
But soon the secret’s out<br />
and this shortest Irish river<br />
takes you quite by storm:<br />
the speed, the pace, the constant quilting<br />
of the water as it cascades,<br />
headlong and reckless<br />
into Galway Bay.<br />
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Even seasoned watchers<br />
wonder at its ferocious force –<br />
wave upon wave upon wave –<br />
working, weaving through the weirs:<br />
the very heartbeat of this vibrant,<br />
vital, festive and fulfilling city.<br />
<br />
The clamour then subsides,<br />
calmed by the Claddagh<br />
as the water is made welcome<br />
by the wider sea, folding itself<br />
to smoothness, and –<br />
on a sparkling sunlit day,<br />
or with a gentle song-filled sunset –<br />
sighing sweetly as it finds home.<br />
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<i>January 3rd, 2016</i><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-73868286030841472752016-01-17T22:58:00.000+00:002017-04-08T07:49:14.021+01:00The lost landscape<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w_oYeTN6bb4/Vp1r9ZwDVGI/AAAAAAAAAd8/MAMKpaCF9Co/s1600/toormore%2B1c.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w_oYeTN6bb4/Vp1r9ZwDVGI/AAAAAAAAAd8/MAMKpaCF9Co/s320/toormore%2B1c.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We are in West Cork,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">treasuring the landscape</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and its beauty, ravaged though it’s been</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">over many hundred years</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">by nature, and by man.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is still early</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">in the new millennium</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">which, for this fair country,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">has brought a brief</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">but now belittled bounty,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">leaving little of an imagined</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">golden dawn.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Almost endless empty houses,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">or blighted building</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">on palatial plots of land</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">sadly speak of dreams</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">embraced so fulsomely,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">but now demolished.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In this landscape </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">of such loveliness,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and soaring space,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the vision faced is one</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">of aspirations checked,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">of grandeur grounded.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No matter what the cause,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the dreaming was distorted, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and the siren signals never seen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">From nowhere, from apparent plenty,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">money is marooned,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and these proud properties, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">with their plans and plots of land,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">so rich in promise,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">now are paupered.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here, in West Cork,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">there is once more a famine, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and, as in the past, another failed future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is a landscape littered </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">lavishly with loss.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Or so it seems.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The landscape lies implacable;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">it is not lost: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">its loveliness will linger,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">its strength survive,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and bravely bear the cost.</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S64L2EjsViM/Vp1tko8ugYI/AAAAAAAAAeE/tWGkY7EwEqA/s1600/Lost%2Blandscape%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S64L2EjsViM/Vp1tko8ugYI/AAAAAAAAAeE/tWGkY7EwEqA/s1600/Lost%2Blandscape%2B2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i>December 2015, but based on our holiday in Caragillihy in 2012.</i><br />
<br /></div>
Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-90710095092227906552015-11-21T14:31:00.000+00:002017-04-08T07:48:37.171+01:00Voices<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n_My8ZAZpEY/VlB-pbURLcI/AAAAAAAAAdI/xuHNwvWj0iw/s1600/Voices.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n_My8ZAZpEY/VlB-pbURLcI/AAAAAAAAAdI/xuHNwvWj0iw/s320/Voices.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On this day of silence</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">it seems that there are voices</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">never heard - not now, not ever.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Blessed, if it be that,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">with a quiet gift</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to fashion words</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">that sometimes move,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I ask the question:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">who will hear my voice?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And will it matter?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On this remembering day</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">no need for words</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">when silence speaks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">with eloquence, with passion,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and such dignity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yet listen. Voices can be heard –</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the many million</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">senseless voices</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">lost in catastrophic conflict:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a massed lament for humankind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We humans, all, we have a voice,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">but one most often numbed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And so this quiet gift</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">may have a place</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">in speaking, sighing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and, yes, sobbing about this</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">universal silence: the pity and the pain,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and the still unspoken word</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of voices never heard.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">November 11, 2015</span></i><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-88925084253296633262015-11-18T22:24:00.001+00:002017-04-08T07:48:19.375+01:00Flowers in Paris<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br clear="ALL" />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qqCT1RtQ0uI/Vkz6GSyzN9I/AAAAAAAAAc4/mxQs3hCtDxg/s1600/Image1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qqCT1RtQ0uI/Vkz6GSyzN9I/AAAAAAAAAc4/mxQs3hCtDxg/s320/Image1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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They too will perish,</div>
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The floods of flowers placed </div>
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in furious remembrance</div>
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of that Friday night.
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<br /></div>
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In Paris, of all places.</div>
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No flowers
can restore </div>
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the fleeting
carefree moments</div>
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before the
onslaught</div>
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of that
Friday night.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In
Paris. </div>
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<br /></div>
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No flowers,
for all their fragrance,</div>
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will repair
the devastation,</div>
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lethally
delivered moments later</div>
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on that
Friday night.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
In Paris.</div>
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<br /></div>
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For all their
fragile beauty, flowers</div>
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will never
heal the savage wounds</div>
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so fearfully
inflicted</div>
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on that
Friday night.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
In Paris.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Yet though
they’ll fade and die, </div>
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these flowers
will defy, </div>
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and then
destroy the futile killers</div>
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of that
Friday night.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
In Paris.</div>
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<br /></div>
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These
gathered flowers</div>
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give strength
and power</div>
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Saying all
that need be said</div>
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About that
Friday night.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In Paris, of
all places.</div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-85138307686852086452015-11-12T23:15:00.000+00:002017-04-08T07:47:31.618+01:00On track at Fallódon <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cy8ATrnxcAw/VkUXsaTqCmI/AAAAAAAAAcc/ZgeR52DbA10/s1600/IMG_4889.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cy8ATrnxcAw/VkUXsaTqCmI/AAAAAAAAAcc/ZgeR52DbA10/s200/IMG_4889.jpg" width="111" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The train on its iron track </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">cuts straight and like a knife</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">through Fallódon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The frequent sound of speed, of pace</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">disturbs the peace, but not the place,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">with all its heritage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The passengers on board </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">travel in a faster, quicker world </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">far from Fallódon’s fields,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">not noticing the landscape,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> or the distant yet adjacent sea.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">City-bound, they journey - unstudied</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">by the patient, waiting cars </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">held at the level crossing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">where once life halted at the station </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">built for the Fallódon Estate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Those days have gone</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">but life today goes on </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">around the long, straight track:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">cattle, sheep and crops, and woodland too,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">play out a pattern not much changed</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">since the founding of Fallódon.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6jJUPwGc7hE/VkUXsT2BpUI/AAAAAAAAAcY/0XUFrH_ikdQ/s1600/IMG_4899.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These sometimes famous trains </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">provide a link - to other lands </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and peoples, and to other times. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The modern Flying Scotsman,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hurtling through Fallódon,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tells of other means of locomotion:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">electrified, no longer powered </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">by steam or even diesel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The thrust of power means little.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Speeding north or south,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">whether to times gone by, or times to come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here at Fallódon, or at a place</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">with any other name,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the track we’re on, our journey -</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and our destination – is the same.</span></div>
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-87253313666281205972015-11-09T23:26:00.002+00:002017-04-08T07:45:17.089+01:00Croquet's ending<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nz2lFCR0QIQ/VkEptf45YYI/AAAAAAAAAbU/TTThUvONOeY/s1600/6j.%2Bthomas%2527s%2Bcroquet%2Bstudies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nz2lFCR0QIQ/VkEptf45YYI/AAAAAAAAAbU/TTThUvONOeY/s320/6j.%2Bthomas%2527s%2Bcroquet%2Bstudies.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is fitting</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">on this autumnal day</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of melancholy sun and poetry</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that I take up the croquet hoops.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Once more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For a day or two</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">they leave a clear impression,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">seen and felt,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">but they leave and weave</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a longer, lingering mark.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Once more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I look forward now</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in the hope of my old age</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to at least one further summer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">with its white hoops </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and coloured balls,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">struck like perfect percussion</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">on the rich green grass</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in sunlit spells of purest harmony.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Once more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And I look backward too –</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">beyond my owning years –</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to more than a hundred</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">summer endings,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">framed by these white hoops,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">now taken up.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And I try to capture</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">these moments every year:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">sometimes of satisfaction,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">sometimes of sorrow.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yet for all the pleasure – </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and the privilege –</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of croquet lawns,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">these sad, still moments</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">reverberate, each year an echo.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A soft and gentle song</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of transience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Singing once more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>October 15th - National Poetry Day 2015</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>The croquet hoops pictured and described, and which I inherited, date from around 1913</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7586528580442988840.post-8883474352266972682015-04-23T22:15:00.000+01:002017-04-08T07:44:00.106+01:00STOP WATCH<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ogPIfea596U/VTlgTPu6uLI/AAAAAAAAAaM/ot1BOPik9hk/s1600/Watch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ogPIfea596U/VTlgTPu6uLI/AAAAAAAAAaM/ot1BOPik9hk/s1600/Watch.jpg" width="151" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quartz movement. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It doesn’t matter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">how you make </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">or measure minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Half an hour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">could seem eternity,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">or nothing. A void.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Eighteen hundred seconds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">could have been the longest, fateful wait</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">for those still at the boarding gate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was three hours</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">more before the crew,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">then passengers, knew</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the flight would end in flowers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quartz movement still</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">on the watch face. Going on, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">when hope, but not the watch,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">has stopped.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>1990s</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>revised February 2015</i></span><br />
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Gordon Hutchinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17910911829947543609noreply@blogger.com0