How Green Was Our Valley

 

How Green Was Our Valley

HOW GREEN WAS OUR VALLEY

H. W. Bryce

How green was our valley before the city came.
Back yards were full of gardens, now our cupboards
Are filled with produce from abroad. What a shame.

The sky turned black when the cities came,
with smoke, exhaust and smog. The climate
changed and wakened sleeping germs. Microbes came.
The virus struck, industry and commerce froze.

The skies cleared up, so did the air, and people
Began to breathe again, even as raging virus took many
People out, breaking many hearts, feeding many fears.

Our valley green again. For now. We must clean up our act.
People grow complacent, when times are good. That’s a fact.
Carelessness never won a war. We must replace complacency
With co-operation, good will, learn to live in lasting decency.

We mask our fears, we hide our inner thoughts. We brace
For more to come, ache for hugs, fear the kiss of death.
And yet…we have re-found a touchstone within our hearts,
And now we’re reaching out—we yearn for contact, we swear

We won’t forget. Human to human, we will mend our careless ways.
Lessons learned. When this war is over, we will live in better days.

Image from Pixabay – In our green, green valley.

About admin

Judge at 6th Rabindrinath Tagore Awards - International - English Poetry Contest Author of Ann, A Tribute, and Chasing a Butterfly, A story of love and loss to Acceptance with the poetry of Alzheimer's and poetry for everybody. Appears in anthologies in Canada, US, India, Mexico and Bolivia. Poetry in Ekphrastic Review and NWriteers International Networeworld Review. Member of Federation of BC Wrters, Royal City Literary Society, and Holy Wow Poets Canada. Member Writers International Network: Distinguished Poet, Distinguished writer.
This entry was posted in Advocate, Alzheimer's, Care Giving, Caring, Conversations, Life, Poem and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to How Green Was Our Valley

  1. Wise words, beautifully spoken. Keep well and let’s turn this planet green again!

  2. admin says:

    Thank you so very much Cynthia.

Leave a Reply