Inspired by recent comments from Farmer C the Hutton Think Tank has promoted a poetry contest for the best poem on rural isolation with a first prize of a week in Berwick in a Two Star hotel and £12 spending money.
Second Prize was awarded to
Too Far from the Maddening CrowdTired of London? So tired of life?
Don’t feel that.
Rural isolation has its moments.
Street lights their irritations.
Bright stars; wide fields; few cars.
A gentler pace; time to do
what you always wanted,
what you dreamed about,
what you never got round to.
Your routine, dictated by your needs.
No pressure.
Good, in’it?
But as you walk deserted ‘streets’
(Our village hardly has one).
you sometimes wish
for a car to pass,
for a face to greet,
for a shop to enter.
And you keep yourself busy
to suffocate a subversive thought
that if you were honest
you might admit
you were
bored..
The wife says
As she looks over my shoulder
‘this all so negative’
Not realising that I may be
winding her up,
just for fun,
to pass the day.
And if I am honest,
I might admit,
that actually I am
not bored
at all.
(But it is a 14 mile round trip to get
The Big Issue)
Second Prize is two weeks in Reston and bring your own sandwiches.
The winning entry will be published after legal advice has been received
Labels: Hutton Think Tank, Merse, Rural Isolation
