Way with words
 When we launched Wild About Plants in 2010 we recognised how inspiring the landscape is and how creative we are as a nation. The landscape and wildflowers have inspired writers and poets for many generations. Wordsworth wrote of daffodils, celandines and snowdrops; Laurie Lee described the landscape of his childhood poetically in the novel 'Cider with Rosie' and Shakespeare often took nature as his inspiration.We are delighted that many of you have taken the opportunity to share your poems with us and hope that those visiting this page will enjoy your contributions. If you enjoy reading one of the poems featured and decide to share it with others please remember to credit the poet. If you have a contribution that you would like to share then please email Katie. |
 |
|---|
Wild Plant Walks
| When I was younger, a small child Brambles and blackberries grew wild By Bushey gardens, draping hedges Dawn climb over Chalkhill ledges Gathered for Gran's apple crumble Thorny, bruise stains when I tumbled Morning walks explore dappled woods Ferns, flowers, chestnuts, seeds, good food Energetic, in fine fettle Fell in Stanmore's stinging nettles Itching so bad you’d want to die Soothing, cool dock leaves grew nearby Summer in Cornish woods saw trains Chug to the sea and back again I’d wave, passengers smiled, waved back. Trot past tree trunks on sandy tracks I’d glimpse mushrooms by dark tree roots - Mum warned, ‘Don’t eat wild plants nor shoots!’ It’s hard to know what’s safe, but why? French folk identify fungi From posters in each pharmacy Practical, simple, safe, easy The French are confident, can't we Enjoy food, without doubt, at tea? Cross yellow fields, climb fine pine hills Admiring Wordsworth’s daffodils We watch bees buzz and pollinate Wash muddy boots, clang stiles, shut gates In Pinner we picked pink posies Now just sniff sweet, wild, rare roses Our internet maps what we’d miss Spot what’s on the endangered list Time’s spread new towns and grown big schools Kids save resources, teach new rules: Don’t pick; don’t eat; take snaps; don’t touch; Preserve wild plants we love so much Behind the garden of each house Green grass hides homes of rat and mouse The squirrel, fox, a four-home cat Barking dog's bone, the watching rat Spider's web, ants take daytime rests Feathers, horsehair, mint - for birds' nests We trudge through long grass by Grim's Dyke Riders spin past weeds, proud fast bikes Past Hatch End station, twilight bridge Inhaling fresh air, sunset ridge By ancient ditch, home on mud tracks Clearly marked by modern guide maps. Copyright Angela Lansbury  |
 |
|---|
A Botanist's Alphabet
| A is agrimony’s yellow spire B for betony, blood lies there C is crosswort, greenest green D for dock, a root like iron E is eyebright cleansing sight F the foxglove flowering late G for gentian, deepest blue H is harebell’s softer show I for iris, sun on water J is juniper’s berry so bitter K for knapweed, hard of head L is loosestrife’s purple sword M for meadowsweet, scent of summer N is nettle, no bed for lovers O for orchid by the stream side P is primrose, half-hidden in shade R for ransoms in woody gloom S is scabious, devil’s own T for tormentil’s yellow star U is nodding umbellifer V for vetch’s symmetry W woodruff’s delicacy X must sadly be bereft Y for creeping yellow cress Z is zostera, eel grass. Copyright Frank Broughton, Yorkshire |
|
|---|
Herbs
| Wild thyme and celandine Rattlegrass and feverfew Silverweed and sauce alone Wood sage and sundew. Treacle wormwood, tooth cress, thistle Names that on the tongue quite bristle Herbs of every height and hue. Sneezewort, fireweed, tormentil Spurges, spleenwort and squill You splutter out their names until A magic chant they do appear Deceiving both the mind and ear. Eyebright, lovage and heart’s ease Names that don’t bewitch or tease. Hemlock, dock and shepherd’s purse - Some verbose, others terse, Some that bless and some that curse. But every day these herbs can please. Hidden in the hedge in stealth, We live in ignorance of their wealth, There for the taking, for our health, Bethronging the wayside, seeding free Benefiting you and me Copyright Jude Warrender  |
|
|---|
Snow
| It’s here again. Feared and welcomed: The mysterious magic Of waking to whiteness Finding feathers falling To earth, unearthly. Snow is silent, Snow is secret; And the world is not As it was yesterday. Copyright Anne Smith  |
|
|---|
Snow - again
| Now you have been here Snow, for a few days, You are no longer magical; You are thick and heavy in the garden Weighing the trees down And covering optimistic bulbs. You tore a limb of my lilac tree In two, and half of it fell away. It’s old, but in the spring The flowers smell wonderful. It didn’t deserve that. Five mahonia stems bow right down As far as the path below; I knock you off them and they rise Springily back into place. Over the camellia, over the shrubs, You lie, a treacherous blanket; And ice grips the pond plants In a relentless embrace. I paid you homage when you came, Snow, but it’s time to go now. Copyright Anne Smith  |
|
|---|
By Ted Smith-Orr, December 9, 2010 @ 4:28 am
Brilliant!!!!!
It is good to see that Plantlife has stimulated some more poems.
Anne Smith’s ‘Snow Again’ rings a bell as a similar thing has happened to my lilac.
Only that my one gets over the path to my compost pile.
How good to see nature being topical.