Pictures by me – G:)
The cows on the Heath were mooing and lowing
Then they were quiet as mice as the grass they began mowing.
And here a few words of warning:
Please don’t try to feed a cow
Forestry Laws do not ‘that’ allow
And don’t stand behind a cow as it is chewing
Or you might be splashed by a cow who’s looing.
Posted in Cows, Heath, New Forest, poem, Poetry
Tagged #Cows, #hampshire, #newforest, Poem, Poetry
The lights were on
The gates were down
Nobody was waiting
Then, the train went through
The gates went up
The lights went out
I walked towards the gap
Then the lights came on
The gates went down
(Nobody had gone through)
But, this time
Two cars
And a weary traveller
Were its victims
They waited
I crossed the bridge
And then the train went through
It could have been the same train
As if on a toy-train set
But, I think, upon reflection, that it probably wasn’t
The gates went up
The lights went out
The two cars went through.
I never looked back
Posted in Hampshire, Totton, Train Gates, Trains
Tagged #hampshire, #Totton, #train, #TrainGates, #waiting, @Totton
Out on the Moor 11-10-2015
Out on the moor
There is a cooling breeze
And a morning’s heat
“And they call the wind, Maria.’
Out on the moor
There is an openness of space
And a sparse hoarseness of gorse
And the odd horse
‘And they call the sun, Apollo.’
Out on the moor
There is time and tide
That waits for no man
Not even me
‘And they call the moor, Othello.’
Posted in Hampshire, Longdown, Moor, New Forest, poem, Poetry
Tagged #hampshire, #Longdown, #Moor, #newforest, #UK, Poem, Poetry
New Forest Poetry – Early
We head out early
To the place
Where we can roam free –
The dogs
And me
They upon legs fleet of foot
Me, on flights of fancy
As I follow at a pace
That suits feeling
Breathing
Thinking
Writing.
And, no sooner are we set upon paths
Tracks
And routes untrammelled
Do I sense the things
That create the words
To write
For to remember the experiences
In future times
When four walls encumber me
And my soul is hampered
By urbane urbanity.
Leaves fall and descend to the hoar-frost land below
Savouring their flight from tree to track
With maybe a regretful look or two back
Amongst friends and new acquaintances
They lay peacefully
And consider the changes to come.
Whilst I consider them.
And so it goes…
Posted in Hampshire, New Forest, Poetry, puppies, Walks
Tagged #hampshire, #newforest, #UK, #Walks
The New Forest felt particularly old, today; and parts of it decidedly ancient. Still, it would most likely outlast me.
In thirty or forty years time I would probably be buried deep or burnt to a crisp; whilst the forest would just be a little older, a little less sentient.
How morbid, I thought. But, realistic, I added. These trees have been here for absolute ages; some, for centuries – and the forest as a whole unbroken since William caused it to be planted. New it was then.
The New Forest
isn’t that new
it’s been around for quite a number of centuries
and we are very lucky to live so close to it.
The pups (still they are pups) enjoyed their walk there today
They were thrilled (but, not so you’d notice) to be the stars of our first ‘Periscope’ online broadcast. Eleven and a half minutes of them being cute and tireless in their pursuit of… something; whilst I tried to keep them in shot and avoid tripping over; disappearing into a muddy swamp or being ‘nutted’ by a low-hanging branch.
The battery on my phone only allowed Eleven and a half minutes or I would have gone on for ages with my inane comments, silly jokes, puffing & wheezing, etc. as I tried to be David Attentionborough.
Anyway, I survived the ordeal and, during the broadcast (which was viewed by (possibly) dozens of people, managed to spot a ‘Hello!’ And a comment of ‘Clever dogs!’ All of which leads me to consider the possibility of it almost being a near success.
And, come to think of it, this is actually the nearest I’ve come to doing an ‘actual’ ‘blog’ in all the years I’ve been posting – whoot!
So, I have now told you of my escapades with Vega and Haiku this afternoon. Hope you weren’t too bored with my spiel – it’s definitely a different and interesting process when compared to writing and posting a poem (which I have been known to do from time to time)
It’s good to share.
G:)
Posted in #Hampshire, Blog, HaikutheLabradoo, New Forest, puppies, Vegathedoggerelpoet
Tagged #Blog, #hampshire, #newforest, #Woodlands, Poetry
New Forest, Hampshire
I fell out of the ugly tree
Hitting ‘all’ the branches on my way down
‘That’ is why ‘I’ am looking a little dishevelled
And am wearing a frown.
Posted in Hampshire, New Forest, Tree, Ugly Fruit
Tagged #hampshire, #newforest, #Tree, #UglyFruit
Vega and Haiku cooling down
Along with some glorious mud
Paddling in a stream
That crossed our path;
The two pups cooled their warmth
And quaffed of the murky ale;
They ran and played along the bank
And splashed merrily into the water
Until a passing herd of humankinds
Took their attention for a minute;
Until, once passed, there resumed
A game of tag amidst the shallows.
Posted in Haiku, New Forest, Paddling, vega
Tagged #haikuthelabradoo, #hampshire, #newforest, #vegathedoggerelpoet
Vega and Haiku: Tree-climbers extraordinaire!
Vega: I could climb a tree…
… right to the very top!
Haiku: Me, too!
Vega: You? You’re only a half-pint; you’d never be able to climb a tree.
Haiku: I’m as good as you!
Vega: Huh! Challenge! Accepted!
Haiku: Start! Climbing!
Narrator: And the above is what occurred…
Posted in #Hampshire, #Walking, Haiku, New Forest, vega
Tagged #Climbers, #haikuthelabradoo, #hampshire, #newforest, #vegathedoggerelpoet
Fallen Tree in the New Forest
A tree fell in the woods
And I didn’t hear a thing;
I wasn’t there to hear it
That’s if it indeed it made any noise…
…at all.
Did it cry out in anguish
Upon its altered state?
Did it have forebodings
That came, but far too late?
Does it lay here now
Sentient and hurt?
Or is it just decaying
Slowly akin the dirt
Of a mess of bark and limbs and trunk, and…
Has its life-sap dried;
All its nature drunk?
A tree fell in the woods
You can hear the echoes still…
Posted in Hampshire, New Forest, Tree, Walking, Woods
Tagged #Fallen, #FallenTree, #hampshire, #newforest, #Tree
Graeme Sandford 