Silent Spring ?

The End Game?

No thrush sings in the garden now,

No blackbird looks to bully the thrush

And no swifts shrill above the town,

No kestrels hover over the motorways;

No cheeky sparrows fly up when a car goes by

And no skylarks sing above the barren meadows.

The martins abandoned their nest under the eaves years ago

Early predictions have come true:

'Silent Spring' is here;

There is 'No Room for Wildlife'

What do we have instead?

The roar and unhealthy smell of the motorways,

Green fields, quiet lanes and woods turned into 

Fly-tips, housing estates, business parks and recreation grounds.

Trees and plants stressed or dying in summer heat and drought.

Collectors begging us to 'Save the Children'

For what? A world destroyed by their elders?

Soon, we too will be gone, 'Gone with the Wind' –

Unless …?

 

This poem by Derek Gould was printed in the BBC Wildlife Magazine

 

 

 

 

 

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