A fox crossed Barley Lane at dusk
trotting from his den on the heath
towards the scattered Essex farms
to hunt for a springtime dinner of hens
ducks, geese with newly hatched young.
He passed a farm labourer plodding along
the rutted track to a meagre dinner.
The fox would dine better than he tonight.
A fox crossed Barley Lane at dusk
trotting from his den on the heath
towards the prosperous Essex farms
keenly seeking a poultry dinner
from their large abundant barns.
He briskly rounded the loaded wagons
creaking along the potholed track.
His mind was on his dinner.
A fox crossed Barley Lane at dusk
trotting from his den on the heath
to seek his dinner at Essex farms and
backyards along the High Road
crossing Barley Lane as it followed
the new railway with its deafening trains.
It took more work to extract his dinner
but he always filled his stomach.
A fox crossed Barley Lane at dusk.
He left his den in the woodland patch
in the park round the Essex hospital,
hunting his dinner in the long back yards
of houses built up around Barley Lane.
Poultry was rare but cats and rabbits
were there to be eaten in moonlit gardens.
he rushed across through a narrow slit
in bumper to bumper urban traffic.
Now for his lip licking dinner.
Previously posted October 2016.
Lol yes, and plenty of stuff that drunk people drop such as kebab, pizza and chips. 😀
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Oh yes.
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I love this one, good to see it again! Hope all is well with you.
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Thank you very much. yes we are going along at the moment albeit with a few family ups and downs. Not Covid19 fortunately. Families are strange beasts.
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Yes, they are!
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Reblogged this on The Cheesesellers Wife and commented:
A wonderful tale of foxes and people over time:
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Not cats! We don’t taste good at all.
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During my year in outer London I definitely heard of cats vanishing at night , and the locals suspected the local foxes. Certainly they were known to have killed the pet rabbits belonging to my landlady’s daughters when they were little. One stroppy spoilt ginger tabby – “Lion” belonging to a pupil’s family refused to come in one night and was never seen again.
I got the idea for this poem after my experience of standing by my bus stop on Barley Lane one night, waiting to cross through jam packed traffic when a fox came out of the hospital grounds and nipped easily across the road through jam packed cars then vanished down a driveway. Urkk !!
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Yikes!!!! I hope I never see a fox!
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If you go to the UK you may very well do so.
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I think I shall stay here. My human has been but she didn’t mention foxes to me. No UK for me!
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A very good idea Suki, especially after what probably happened to Lion.
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Aw. God bless him.
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