AT LEIGHTON BUZZARD MOTORWAY SERVICES IN NOVEMBER

At Leighton Buzzard Motorway Area there is a siege in progress

At Costa
At WH Smiths
At Tesco Express
At McD's
  
They're on their knees
Those staff
Masquerading as squaddies
In scarlet tunics at Rorke's Drift
Besieged they're so
Beseiged they are by those 'Zulus'
Fresh from their Corsas
                  their Peugeots
                 Benzes, BM's
                Minis and Rovers
Made ravenous by the passing of miles
In the monotony of movement
They smell blood.
They will be fed. They must be fed
They will drop dead without their bread
They know
Their stomachs tell them so.

They attack in numbers spears at the ready
Look out, their aim's all unsteady!
Look out, you could be next you know
Or maybe you won't be if you're careful enough!

So Ready-steady-go
Can't beat 'em so join 'em
Don'tchooknow
That line that queue
That invasion
That outside Greggs invasion

So get in line
Go on
Times ninety-nine
Choose your weapons
Choc fondant muffin anyone?
Vegan sausage roll? Vanilla slice?
Hell, they look nice! And so's the price!!

Food safely speared
Bellies stilled
There is the retreat

Back on the road in a heartbeat

And Leighton Buzzard Services can breathe again
Till the wheel turns
To the rhythm of the big bass tum.........


[on the road north in November 2021]

TICK LIST IN JANUARY


It's January
There is a chill in the air
Ahead a woodland walk
*through mud
*over wood chip
*across grassy knoll
in our bulky boots
The terrain uneven but true
These boots are made for hiking
And that's just what we do
They are much to our liking

*solid
*snug
*in that mud

Nature's tick list
In my mind

*nuthatch
*squirrel
*rabbit

The wildlife world around us
As prosaic as Sunday tea
With the vicar

*genteel
*refined
*courteous

Leafy hollows lie in wait
A tree with an attribution
A dedication to a music student
Who died young, a tree that is

*spindly
*gaunt
*spare

And bare

A murder of crows above gather
Huddle on branches
Above us as we pass
We stop and stare
In the sun's glare
And they caw collective
Something plaintive
Enough to make us move on

And the apex of our walk is gained
Right by the synthetic surface playing fields
Where a single white lacrosse ball lies in wait

For us.

[Lancaster University woodland walk; 16/01/2022]

NOSTALGIA

What we do
What we do is

We look back and we see
How it used to be
This place
That place
To that moment
In that time
In that space.

That's what we do
When we look back
And see
How things used to be
How we used to see
How things used to seem

Better.