Sunday poem and pictures
"Going, Going"
by Philip Larkin
... It seems, just now,
To be happening so very fast;
Despite all the land left free
For the first time I feel somehow
That it isn't going to last,
That before I snuff it, the whole
Boiling will be bricked in
Except for the tourist parts —
First slum of Europe: a role
It won't be hard to win,
With a cast of crooks and tarts.
And that will be England gone,
The shadows, the meadows, the lanes,
The guildhalls, the carved choirs.
There'll be books; it will linger on
In galleries; but all that remains
For us will be concrete and tyres.
Most things are never meant.
This won't be, most likely; but greeds
And garbage are too thick-strewn
To be swept up now, or invent
Excuses that make them all needs.
I just think it will happen, soon.
Last week I wrote about the county Garden Club tour that we went on. I didn't have any pics of it so I posted some generic garden pics. I finally got the pics that Chas took of the garden tour and here ten of the hundreds that he took. From top to bottom: a vegetable garden with blue delphiniums mixed in; Andy and I headed over to check out the owner's new chicken-coop; a dam with dahlias in the foreground; a wonderful greenhouse with a grapevine and a table for eight; a sign that says it all for me; blue hydrangeas on the banks of the creek which ran through this garden; a potting shed made to look like a country schoolhouse; that's a kiwi-fruit vine on the side of the shed; part of the six acres of manicured lawns of this garden; same garden - you can see that it is carved out of the surrounding forest.
The next six pics are of Robin's Wood which looks pretty ratty compared with the other gardens: first the South African "Lucifer" crocosmias; this is what I see from one of my bedroom window which is to the left of the flag - the hole on the left of the crocosmias will eventually be a pond; a close-up of the crocosmias; what's left of the lawn which we do not water in summer so it turns brown and the dandelions take over - way in the back you can see a splash of red which is the crocosmias; one of Andy's orchids - a Queen of the Night cactus orchid carefully posed in front of the crocosmias; the orchid on a picnic table - the flower is huge but sadly only lasts for 24 hours.
by Philip Larkin
... It seems, just now,
To be happening so very fast;
Despite all the land left free
For the first time I feel somehow
That it isn't going to last,
That before I snuff it, the whole
Boiling will be bricked in
Except for the tourist parts —
First slum of Europe: a role
It won't be hard to win,
With a cast of crooks and tarts.
And that will be England gone,
The shadows, the meadows, the lanes,
The guildhalls, the carved choirs.
There'll be books; it will linger on
In galleries; but all that remains
For us will be concrete and tyres.
Most things are never meant.
This won't be, most likely; but greeds
And garbage are too thick-strewn
To be swept up now, or invent
Excuses that make them all needs.
I just think it will happen, soon.
Last week I wrote about the county Garden Club tour that we went on. I didn't have any pics of it so I posted some generic garden pics. I finally got the pics that Chas took of the garden tour and here ten of the hundreds that he took. From top to bottom: a vegetable garden with blue delphiniums mixed in; Andy and I headed over to check out the owner's new chicken-coop; a dam with dahlias in the foreground; a wonderful greenhouse with a grapevine and a table for eight; a sign that says it all for me; blue hydrangeas on the banks of the creek which ran through this garden; a potting shed made to look like a country schoolhouse; that's a kiwi-fruit vine on the side of the shed; part of the six acres of manicured lawns of this garden; same garden - you can see that it is carved out of the surrounding forest.
The next six pics are of Robin's Wood which looks pretty ratty compared with the other gardens: first the South African "Lucifer" crocosmias; this is what I see from one of my bedroom window which is to the left of the flag - the hole on the left of the crocosmias will eventually be a pond; a close-up of the crocosmias; what's left of the lawn which we do not water in summer so it turns brown and the dandelions take over - way in the back you can see a splash of red which is the crocosmias; one of Andy's orchids - a Queen of the Night cactus orchid carefully posed in front of the crocosmias; the orchid on a picnic table - the flower is huge but sadly only lasts for 24 hours.
posted by Joubert at 10:34 AM
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