Wednesday 30 October 2013

Saying goodbye to the river beach


Off to the river for a splash,
the last one for a while, maybe for a year or two,
because the man came in his machine....


....and took the beach away,
plus chunks of our land as well,
so that the river can flow fast,
through the bridge.

For all the day long the grinding and crashing continued
as the machine lifted all that had been laid down
during the four floods of last winter.
It felt like toothache to my soul,
that is what it felt like
as I heard machine.

"But why", you might say,
"why would you feel in such a way."
Because of the amount of our bank
that the man in the machine,
also took away.

We lost a chunk of field last winter,
as the river flowed up and over our land,
and now a slice of woodland has also gone,
done away with by the man in the machine,
as he straightened up the bank,
so that the river might flow.

And of course it needs to,
otherwise it will fetch up on our land again,
which is not ideal,
given that we are a small farm
and not a water park with lakes.
Rationally I know this needed to be done,
but I still found the awesome noise of destruction,
disturbing.


Still green here,
with just a touch of gold here and there,


...and lookee here at what I found in the veg plot,
as I brought the last of the aubergines in,
carrots!
Which proves that one must never give up,
when things are not going very well with one's veg,
because there can be a surge of growth,
and a surprise harvest can be had.
Bit like life really,
keep on going when things aren't so good,
and a surge forward will come.
x

6 comments:

Denise said...

But doesn't it work that when one thing is taken away, something else comes to take its place? Can't be doing with holes in life. There will be good news arriving soon, Vera. That's how life works. Isn't it?

Leon Sims said...

Love both your prose and your positive attitude to all things Vera.

rusty duck said...

So true, your last paragraph.
I'm sorry about the woodland, but do hope that in creating a smoother flow the river will not now flood. On a very much smaller scale, it's what we've tried to do here. Time will tell.

Vera said...

Denise, I have made myself be alright about the river because it is a waste of energy not to be!

Leon, thanks.

Jessica, hope your flood protection barrier does the job this winter!

Kev Alviti said...

i's for the greater good I guess, and in a few years your be quite used to it. Well done on growing some carrots. I have to admit I've always done quite well with them but there is a lot of root fly around here.

Vera said...

Ken, I agree about 'it being for the greater good' as have just found out that if the river is not 'tamed' then there will be erosion of the foundations of the bridge, which is at the end of our property. Like you say, we shall get used to it. Would prefer to be here rather than anywhere else in the world!