Blazing A Trail – Leslie Leeks

The George Crabbe Memorial Poetry Competition
1970 Crabbe Memorial Competition – First Prize
Adjudicators: Anne Ridler, Roger Hayward

“Timber!” Another piece of countryside
Crashes to the ground.
For the population expansion
A blazing trail is made.

The pylons are like giant invaders from space,
And they seem to be going somewhere.
To one of the giant cities, but why
Do they have to come through our place?

Ruining our fields and countryside.
The wood is down,
The giant space creatures spring up
And stride off, just passed out little town.

They have barbed wire as stocking garters,
Enormous arms and boundless legs,
They are skinny but an immense streaky height
They tow each other so as not to get lost on their journey.

They are careful and alert,
They seem to tip-toe through our fields
Perhaps they don’t want to awake us at night,
But they gave me a fright, looking through my window at twilight.

They are clean, stainless,
And wild but tame.
They are twisted and ugly,
But they still seem to trudge on.
When will they be gone?

Copyright © Leslie Leeks 1970