NIDDERDALE
Bedraggled daffodils line the lanes
unnerved by April snows.
Only the curlew crying on the fell,
the short-eared owl stationed on his post,
know that summer still will come
as surely as the growing lambs will go.
By the lake where a myriad mosquitos hum,
only the bravest rabbit boasts
of the ability to foretell
how strong will be the wind's abuse,
how many elms will no longer grow
to offer shelter to the homeless crow.
© Gerald England
Composed: Ripley Castle, 23rd April 1989
Publications
1991 Hybrid (UK)
1991 Owen Wister Review (USA)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)
1992 International Poetry (USA)
2000 NO CHOICE BUT TO TRUST (Pittsburgh, UnMon America)
2006 Other Voices (Internet)
After all these years of reading books with curlew cries in them, I finally downloaded an mp3 of the sound, thanks to your poem.
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