The River

As I strolled along the river bank I was so surprised to see How different the river is To how it used to be There were no fish, no lily pads No flowers I could see No water birds or bulrushes Or even a willow tree In the past, along the bank Many willow trees were seen Now and then you sometimes saw One fallen in the stream Many hours I spent fishing On the river bank with rod and line It was quiet and peaceful then I lost all sense of time While I sat there watching I would see birds in the sky A moorhen or a water rat Would go gently swimming by I remember when we washed the sheep Down by the Woolstone mill It was so good to watch the wheel go round It’s a pity it’s not there still With all the many change And houses built so near The little simple things in life Will quickly disappear The tranquillity of village life Is spoilt by big machines Upsetting all the villages For that place called Milton Keynes By Jim Clarke Woolstone

 

Poems copyright Jim Clarke. Page put together by and copyright of
Yobunny, 1999. Updated August 2006