begone

Cherry

By Di_Hard

Thu, 10 Aug 2023
  • 1845 reads
18 comments
 

there is a bumblebee buzzing

where the woundwort was

 

now neat snipped stalks

 

in hoe hacked naked soil

no cerise tipped willowherb spires, leaves

gloriously scarlet clashing

 

no knapweed like amethyst sea urchins

or frilly cool mauve scabious

no red clover nectar-full curves

or marjorum's tiny pink petals

 

no life. This is what you want?

 

weedkiller smell hangs in humid air

a shroud. You sit on your bench outside

waiting for me, so you can ask if everything has been ok

while you were away at your first home

 

but I hurry inside, hopeless as the bumblebee

Certificate U
Poem
Rant

Comments

Submitted by marandina on

"... weedkiller smell hangs in humid air

a shroud..."

 

The desecration of nature. Beautifully articulated, of course. And moving. The bumblebee sums up so much about what's fragile in the natural world. Paul 

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou Paul :0) They are still sitting there and I dare not go out or I will cry

 

Submitted by Turlough on

Oh Di mate, this is heartbreaking. 

The fact that these monsters are sitting around waiting for a reaction makes matters even worse.

Your words are perfect for describing what was there and what has happened but these stand out...

weedkiller smell hangs in humid air

as they make me imagine napalm.

So destructive to the plants and to wildlife and any other creature that might come along and eat the wildlife and also harmful to the water supply. I can't believe that people are still allowed to sell this stuff.

It's awful. I can fully understand how upset you must be. I really really feel for you. 

Turlough

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou Turlough :0) I am pathetic about crying. They always do something. The worst thing was the weedkiller they put on the roof to kill stuff growing on the chimney (well, not them, someone else paid to, when they left) and the drips ran off into my garden. Very worried it is what made the cats die too young from walking about there as must be very strong to kill currant and raspberry bushes and a climbing rose. They never told us they were doing it either till I realised last year when it happened again when someone came to clean the gutters and do that at the same time. It was all the stuff dying in my garden (before I knew why) that made me want to make the bed on the wasteland at the edge of the road

 

Submitted by Turlough on

A man called Mustafa comes up our lane every May and August to poison the weeds on the side of the road. In our hot wet weather the vegetation grows at a phenomenol rate so I can understand that something needs to be done so that the road remains passable but I think a strimmer and a chainsaw would be more suitable. We have a well on our land but we daren't use the water from it because I'm sure it's contaminated.

So I told Mustafa that I would be responsible for the bit of the lane a couple of hundred metres along the side of our house and he could just leave it alone. He agreed that it would save him a bit of work. I gave him a bottle of rakia as a little incentive to be nice to the world and told him that if I saw him come anywhere near us again with his spray machine the next bottle of rakia would have weedkiller in it.

We had this conversation in my pidgin Bulgarian two years ago so I wasn't sure at first if the message had got through. I was worried that he might have taken it badly and blasted us with extra poison. Last year I was pleased to see that he did as I had asked but still sprayed the rest of the village. But this year he has a strimmer. I think he must have been talking to the mayor of the village about me. I'm sure they all talk about me and Priyatelkata anyway... those crazy old foreigners with a hundred cats and who grow flowers where they should be growing tomatoes and aubergines. 

Ordinary folk often don't know any better. The people who need a good hard kick up the arse are the likes of the chief executive of Monsanto / Bayer and the politicians who can't see the need to ban their evil produce. A century ago there was no mass produced chemical weedkiller and the world got by. Why does it need to be different now. Money talks, eh? 

There's nothing more heartbreaking than to see your plants or animals suffering. I hope something can happen to improve the situation where you live Di. Is there a local councillor or someone you can have a wee word with? 

Surely it can't go on forever.

Turlough

Submitted by Di_Hard on

You are so kind, Turlough, thankyou! Neighbours on both sides are lovely. Infact when the council was doing spraying up the road, one neighbour, who was outside at the time, asked them not to spray my wildflower bit, and since then they haven't! It is the upstairs people who are a problem. Perhaps because they feel they have to be extra puritanical exactly because of all our wild floriferousness :0) To be fair I am sure they dislike us as much as we do them, dreading on the long drive up here to see how badly nature has encroached since their last corrective visit. I just wish they would not touch bits they don't own
Interesting to hear that Bulgaria is ahead of Scotland on the ecology and biodiversity front, also caring more for their council workers' health. How BRILLIANT that Mustapha has a strimmer now! WELL DONE YOU!!!!! What a huge difference you have made! That was a lovely thing to learn, thankyou so much for telling me :0)

 

Submitted by celticman on

weedkiller  yeh, associated with Parkinson disease too. Councils love it. 

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

yes, more important than libraries. Imaginations are like weeds - not to be encouraged. Who knows what one might grow into, the damage it could cause to existing structures

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

When I read this at 5.20am this morning Di, it broke my heart and left me with tears in my eyes. How can people be so heartless. I can completely understand how you must be feeling and especially as my wildflower patch never came to fruitation. These idiots have no idea how much care goes into creating a wildlife area.

I'm so sorry to hear this news Di.

Jenny.

 

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou Jenny, you are so right! To these people the flowers must have seemed like weeds, but I had bought some as plants and seeds off the internet, rescued others from land around here about to be developed, or nurtured from seed collected on walks. I wish I was brave enough to give them a bill for all the things they have killed, but I am not. It is not the money (though that makes me cross - buying plants is big treat for me) or time, it is the feeling of powerlessness to protect even these tiny bits of Earth

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

There's an elderly woman living nearby who was saying that she used to have hedgehogs visiting, but now that she'd 'had' to put down slug pellets they seemed to have disappeared. Even with half a brain cell you'd think she'd make the connection, no?

I am so sorry these horrible people have destroyed all that beauty. Have you tried asking them not to? I know it can be difficult to do those things but it might be worth a try. Chemical free gardening is becoming so common now maybe they'd respond positively?

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Argh! I have. And do you know what they said? "We never use weedkiller because it is bad for the environment." Is that Boris Johnson thing, say whatever makes the person happy, then do what you want.

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Beautiful, Di. 

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou so much, Rachel!

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

I think a lot of people really don't undestand about week-killers, and are tangled with thoughts that everywhere should look tidy (like in TV dramas/adverts etc?), or their neighbours would be cross (!). Also, concerning what they said when you asked them not to, they may even have a vision of weedkillers as something worse than what they use, which they may think is just a 'garden-tidier'!

I must say I do sometimes wistfully realise it would be nice to see my overgrown yard suddenly cleared without waiting till I am more regularly able to weed it (or wait for winter to kill off the overgrowth!).

A problem for you, and sad. But I would still pray for some way to open up to be able to explain gently to them and see whether they are under misconceptions! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou Rhiannon, you are always so good as seeing others' points of view :0) The trouble is that they want everywhere looking neat and tidy because it is a holiday let, and we, and the people next door on each side, prefer to encourage wildlife. So as they only come up (thank goodness!) a couple of weeks in Summer and Spring, they go into blitz mode. I quite understand and accept that they should do whatever they want with their own bits of the drive and porch, but not everyone else's! They pulled up a beautiful huge thistle from outside our neighbour's house, which made her upset, too. I do try to see things from their point of view, and they could be much worse - at least they are not here all the time :0) It is lovely to hear from you :0) I have seen your photos of your yard, it is beautiful!

 

Submitted by Penny4athought on

You’ve written a conscientious piece of poetry that begs for debate. A personal bug-a-boo for me; weed killers are poisonous to nature and us, and yet we don’t outlaw it anywhere, as we should. God created nature, weeds and all, and everything in nature has its purpose. Weeds are beneficial; they help to regenerate soil that has become depleted. Their roots bring water and nutrients back up to the soil as they decompose and they are helpful to microorganisms and wildlife and are food for some insects. We may not like the look of weeds in our garden, though some have beautiful flowers, but we should understand we need to live with them and should not rid our gardens of them by pesticides. I don’t use any kind of pesticide on my front lawn or back garden, never have, and I have weeds. They are green and match the color of grass easily. I will cut down their size as I mow but I don’t pull them out. Yes, I have insects abounding, but that too is life.

Vive La Weeds!smiley

Penny4athought

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Vive Le Vert!!! Yes :0) I am very tempted to graffito that on their pristine garage door :0) Luckily for them I don't do spray paint as it is not eco friendly. Maybe some thick mud, next time they come :0)

Thankyou very much for reading and your thoughtful comment. I am still sad about it, seeing the empty space where the busy flowers were, but glad you like to watch your insects :0)