Do You Remember The Old Orchard?

By Jane Hyphen

Tue, 23 Jan 2018
  • 1417 reads
6 comments
 

 

Do you remember the old orchard?

 

The apple-dapple shade

 

Among gnarly trees we grew

 

June drops and carpets of leaves

 

On littered floors we played

 

Frittered time lost in flow

 

You piggybacked a girl

 

A waif with hips like spurs

 

The sun shone hot enough

 

To blush the loaded fruit

 

And brand the scene

 

Forever in our hearts

 

Do you remember the old orchard?

 

Before they built the houses

 

Razed our playground

 

To make way for toy town

 

Square set, brick brown

 

Back almost to back

 

Strips of green between

 

Now who plays?

 

In concrete deserts

 

They only work and work

 

To live in Orchard Close

 

Where once blossoms grew

 

 

Certificate U
Poem
Nature

Comments

Submitted by Di_Hard on

 

"Among gnarly trees we grew"

 

People go on about only a tiny percentage of Britain is built over but so many writers on ABC alone have experienced beautiful places they loved as children being "developed". The woods at the end of the garden where I grew up have recently been cut down and now await planning permission.  I know people need houses, I don't know what the solution is. But I wish it did not involve destroying the places where children can grow up knowing a little of the natural world and its magic

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Sad isn't it. A bit of a catch twenty two to be honest because one of the sad things about the new houses in their lack of garden and yet we don't want to take up more space from the wild. Although what's really sad is how much people have to work to buy them or rent them.

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

It brought to mind some old orchards near here. Lovely gnarled trees and fallers and scents.

Is so much more housing needed because of families splitting? Could there be some even small wild spots by playgrounds? Have to keep them 'safe areas' and not get too overgrown I guess.

Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Hi Rhiannon, I wonder if that's part of it and I wonder also if one day the population will recede and there will be empty properties, perhaps this is unlikely. Children seem to have fewer opportunities to play among nature don't they and yet it's one of the best things, I still do it. There's no better playground than an orchard; there's the blossom, tiny fallers to pelt each other with, low branches to climb and a natural sunshade.  

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

I enjoyed this Jane. It made me think of an old man waving a stick, saying 'it used to be fields here' when I was a very small child (in London!), and now I am much much older, there are places where I could also say the same. It is sad and I don't know what the solution is either

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Yes! I hope I'm not turning into the local stick waver. It's been proven time and again that natural spaces are really good for us humans, it can feel like the planners are conspiring to make us all miserable. I'm lucky I have counrtyside at the end of my road.