The Country Sighed

There are sparrows in the hedgerows
All aflutter and sounding distraught,

Twittering, constantly muttering

Over things that Man has wrought,

His philosophy over the years show

In our own cunning we’ve been caught:

‘Accelerate the growth of food

The wheat and corn and rye,

Force feed soils with chemicals

And watch stalks touch the sky.’

But the ground seemed to move

And heave a very heavy sigh.

There are salmon and rainbow trout

Swimming up river and stream

Eager to avoid each fisherman’s hook

And evade his cherished dream;

Yet,if you stand still and listen carefully,

You can almost hear them scream.

‘Reel in all the fishes,

On their flesh we’ll have our fill,

Don’t worry about tomorrow

There’ll be some left still.’

And the stream seemed to shiver

At Man’s cold and callous will.

There are those who look at hedgerows

And rivers when on a country walk

And, carefully considering the countryside

They recoil, it makes them baulk;

If the country had a voice they wonder,

Of what words would it talk?