Liphook Community Magazine Summer 2020

Poets’ Corner
The Garden of the Heart
“You’re still here aren’t you,
In fact, You and all the others,
Have never left - Have You ?”
Never left me, though, at times
I turned my back and chose
To close my eyes and ears.
To the concerns you all held
Held for me and my well-being
And now today I have returned.
I pushed open the rusted gate
That you had left ajar after I left.
Please allow me to walk once more
Among this garden of the heart
Oh let me see those flowers
Oh let me pause by the pool
To see if my reflection
Lacks the strength to be found.
And these luscious lawns
Beneath my weary feet
Seem to caress them as if
Being biblically bathed
Are you intent on bringing
A tide of tears to my eyes
And as I walk further among
The swaying trees I half expect
To see you waiting with your
Arms outstretched with no
Signs of judgement being
Considered as being required
I am home once more, here
In the garden of the heart.
Bee Frightened
I think that I will never see
A sight more irksome than a bee,
Her fluffy black and yellow stripes
Fill me with dread, oh lor’, oh cripes!
With sight of her fast moving wing
She warns me that she well might sting
If I intend to pick her flower;
I’m off to find some other bower.
Richard Gould
Carol Watson
In Celebration of 70 Years of
House and Garden
It means so much to us mere mortals
To read within these glossy portals
A glimpse into a world of taste
Which one can hopefully imitate
When I read it through from cover to cover
I know there’s so much more to discover
I painted my staircase a wonderful pink
I bought a new bed with a headboard in mink
I positioned box balls either side of my drive
And my front door’s gloss black for when you arrive
This evening I’m making your Leek Quiche for supper
I’ve made it before and it’s absolutely super
My garden is full of old roses
My Japanese plants are superb
The camellias this year are wonderful
And the wisteria has grown by a third
So thank you again House and Garden
Your 70th Anniversary is so deserved.
Linda Foster - lbmather@gmail.com
Copyright © 2017 LINDA FOSTER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
If I Were You
If I were you, which I am not,
With all the world in disarray,
I’d look around my tiny plot,
And say a thank you every day.
With silent skies an azure blue,
Our lanes and roads congestion free,
The birds are singing, sweet and true,
A-top their perch, in every tree.
And now we have the time to pause,
The chaos of our lives on hold.
Unique, our Thursday night applause
Salutes the fearless, brave and bold.
Though we will walk our daily walk,
Four legged friends, our comfort still,
We Zoom and e-mail, ‘phone and talk,
‘Till friends and family have their fill.
But we are not immune to grief,
And we have lost dear friends and true.
So, steadfast in each lab’s belief,
The search for vaccine, each day anew.
And so, until this lockdown ends,
We social distance, isolate,
Catch up with neighbours, social trends,
Our world, across our garden gate.
Angela Glass
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