When I was in Nailsworth last week, talking about hedges, I was given a poem about hedges – I didn’t catch his name, though it had the copyright below – I hope he doesn’t mind me putting it up here. He did emphasize that it is a work in progress – happy to credit it properly if he wants to get in touch – either way it was a rather lovely thing to be given
Sheep from Oats
A hedge to separate the sheep from oats,
The pastoralist and agriculturalist,
Once liable to red-descending mist,
Are besom-pals, their vision void of motes.
For ‘bound and twisted’ hedgerow antidotes
Mean stock and crops now safely co-exist
Thanks to the hedger, landscape alchemist,
Whose skills for peace he year-on-year devotes.
But hedges other benefits unlock.
In diverse habitats for varied life,
Fauna and flora side-by-side evolve,
Not separated like the crops and stock.
Selection’s left to chance and natural strife,
Hedge conservation must be man’s resolve.
Copyright: Nizgal May 2012.
