I think that when we realised
every wilderness was done for
and none were left on earth
we reconfigured waging war
so they would create more.
New wildernesses came on stream
replacing those we broke
and some were on my doorstep
Free Gratis of the bombs
and courtesy of us.
The stories that I mostly read
when I was very small
were daring do's in jungles -
those we are cutting down -
by Biggles and his ilk.
I'd play all day on bomb sites -
hoping to find bombs! -
though later as I aged a bit
where once was wilderness,
we'd build a cycle speedway track.
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14 comments:
Yikes, thinking about playing on bomb sites is definitely chilling.
Such a desperate image. Hopefully we will never reach that although we seem to be on a speedway right now!
Dave,
You are so right with your observation about wildernesses....The era of computers has allowed the world to view sites of wilderness and recent destruction. Somehow there is a complacency these days. The horror and shock is not felt, from the comfort of a desk.
Seeing the destruction at Coventry Cathedral was impacting for me. As of course was my childhood living in Belfast, during those years of wanton death and destruction.
Eileen
I remember those wildernesses Dave - colonised by rosebay willowherb.
We do seem pretty adept at creating a new wilderness with every war waged or deforestation and so on…
Biggles! Biggles! I remember reading my brothers comics and there was this great (three part) story – not about Biggles – of soldiers in Java and soldier ants eating them to bits and I never got to read the final episode… A serious unmet need Dave!
As a kid I used to have nightmares of German tanks coming down our streets… and this was quite a few years after the war.
Excellent poem and memory jogger Dave!
Anna :o]
oh man...to me this speaks of consumption...the eco message in the death of the forest...and finding new wilderness...space maybe will we screw that up too?
The title attracts the reader at once, who is then rewarded by the poem.
I get a lot about war, and war of society within ones own society. Powerful descriptions, Dave. Again, I salute your ability. To weave the beginning, youth, with the present, and be able to, sort of, justify the future is beyond my poetic nature. Nice one.
Excellent!
Ouch. Painfully true. (I loved all my brother's Biggles books.)
and did you indeed grow up in a post war wilderness Dave? Surely you're not old enough? A future gambit then.
Did you see my Queens Jubilee post BTW?
Aloha from Waikiki,
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
True, Dave! We lose out not just to development but to the horrors of conflicts. We could only lament what could have been!
Hank
We cannot anything but pray under the situation...on the wilderness.
wow..tightly written david...also great images in this..the battered head in duct tape turban was my fav i think.. and yeah...no wonder it looks alien..
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