For those who think animals do not think and feel.
They are not just there for us to abuse and use; they are just like us.
Poetry – Seven Swallows
Seven Swallows
Seven swallows were grouped on the telephone wires
Chattering
Like a bunch of women in the park.
I wondered what they were talking about.
The scarcity of insects?
The lack of nesting places?
The prowess of their mates?
The comfort of their nests?
The progress of their chicks?
The thrill of swooping on the currents of air?
Or perhaps the coming migration?
Seven swallows, chattering,
The remnants of the big flocks of yesterday,
Exchanging gossip.
Opher – 24.7.2020
Sunsets at Sea – Photos
Poetry – Dear Mrs Planet – a Third appeal
This is the third one of my ‘sorry’ letters to Mrs Planet – the pleading of a recalcitrant child.
I’m not sure which one works best – what do you think?
Dear Mrs Planet – a Third appeal
Dear Mrs Planet
Thank you for your hospitality.
I’m really sorry that some of my fellows
Did not behave responsibly.
Please do not blame me.
I hope you will be able
To repair the damage done.
But, know we are not all the same,
Please don’t blame everyone.
Some of us are fun.
We’ll do everything we can
To make amends for the greed junkies.
We’re so embarrassed
By the overgrown monkeys
Who treat us like flunkies.
So Mrs Planet
Can you just see your way
To forgive us
And allow us to stay.
We promise we won’t get in your way.
Opher – 17.7.2020
Poetry – Dear Mrs Planet Too
I wrote three of these poems. I was imagining a naughty child being threatened with punishment by their parent.
They have been caught doing something they know is wrong. I wanted it to be the sort of letter of apology that a child writes when they are forced to grovel.
I wrote three of them with different rhyming structures and metre. I wasn’t sure which one worked best and at one point I thought I could meld them into one – but I don’t think that’s really possible.
I’ll post the third one in a minute or two.
Dear Mrs Planet Too
Dear Mrs Planet,
We’re so sorry about the trees,
All the insects and the bees.
We’re sorry about the animals
We’ve driven to extinction.
We’re sorry that so many of us
Are behaving without distinction.
Can you ever forgive us
For the way we’ve been treating you?
We thought you were just a lump of rock
And we could do whatever we wanted to.
So Mrs Planet, I know we’ve been running wild.
Busting up the place like a dysfunctional child.
But please tolerate us for a while
And we’ll find a way to reconcile.
We promise to be good and clean up all our mess;
To stop discharging into the poisoned air.
We’re holding up our hand. We will confess.
We’re really going to change and start to show we care.
Opher – 17.7.2020
Poetry – We’re part of it.
We’re part of it.
There’s a small planet that we’re on
That provides everything we need;
An intricate interconnecting web
Of insect, fur and seed.
Some recognise that this delicate web
Took billions of years to evolve
And that we’re messing up a balance,
Creating problems we can’t solve.
It’s like cannibalising the life-support
That is keeping us alive
Instead of improving it –
Enabling us to thrive.
Too many people see nature
As a business, open to abuse.
I guess,
You either feel you’re part of it
Or it’s there for you to use.
Opher – 17.7.2020
The dance of the Hooded Grebe
Trevor tweeted this (I always think that it is highly appropriate to tweet about birds). It is both hilarious and remarkable!
Nobody:
Hooded grebes: pic.twitter.com/vjebcjrBA1
— cluedont (@cluedont) July 13, 2019
A heron having trouble with its dinner – photos
The Destruction of Nature.
I’m still greatly infuriated at what has happened to the large expanses of natural habitat that has been wantonly destroyed.
We live in a world where nature is under attack. We are encouraged to set aside areas in our gardens for insects because their numbers have crashed, yet a huge expanse of rich habitat is just stupidly flattened. It does not make sense!
I think it has spoilt my summer. No more chances to see those wonderful animals – the stoats, kestrels, owls and kites. Without anywhere to live or food to it they will be elsewhere.
Here is a picture of what the hill looked like a short while ago:
Unfortunately, I did not take photos of the really wide verges where the stoats live.
This is how it looks now:
A wide, 5-metre verge, has been mown. All the wildflowers are gone. The undergrowth is gone. There will be no seeds, no insects and so no food for the birds, voles and mice, so no food for the stoats, owls and kestrels.
The litter is now scattered everywhere. It looks disgusting.
The above photo is taken from a similar place to one in the first batch.
These are narrow verges but they have been mown too. You can see on the right-hand side the height of the undergrowth and flowers. On the wider verges, this provided habitat for millions of insects and the creatures who feed off them. The loss of flowers is terrible.
Some good news on the Environment.
.Safar sent me this to cheer me up after my beautiful bit of wilderness was destroyed. There is hope!
Some good news: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/14/farmers-wildeast-hatch-plan-return-area-size-dorset-wild-nature-east-anglia