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Foot And Mouth

by poemsgalore 

Posted: 26 May 2003
Word Count: 76
Summary: I'm sure most of you will remember the Foot and Mouth epidemic that spread across the UK a couple of years ago. This was written in the middle of it all. As I live in a fairly rural area, it affected us in a small way and I witnessed it first hand.


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Foot And Mouth

No children are playing
down in the lane.
No dog owners walking
their pets in the rain.
The parks have all closed
and the footpaths are blocked;
the farms are all shut
with their gates firmly locked.
All racing is cancelled,
the countryside's still;
no cows in the pasture
on top of the hill.
The lambs have all vanished
the pigsties are bare.
The stench of burnt flesh
fills the damp morning air.






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Comments by other Members



olebut at 20:00 on 26 May 2003  Report this post
the main think i remember is the stench of burning beasts and the thick smoke around here they had several pyres next to the main roads.
That and the total deselation of he farmers.

your poem captures much of the sadness of this time

roger at 09:59 on 27 May 2003  Report this post
I agree with Olebut, PG, it reminds us and is worthwhile for that alone. But it's also my kind of poem, telling it how it is, easy to take in and not requiring a huge IQ to grasp. Good stuff.

James Graham at 11:42 on 30 May 2003  Report this post
Yes, this encapsulates the foot-and-mouth tragedy. And it's technically very good - it never seems that a rhyme has been forced, it's very natural.

James.

poemsgalore at 14:00 on 31 May 2003  Report this post
Thank you, it seems the more you work at a piece the more natural sounding it becomes, and this took quite a while to "sort out".


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