Saturday 25 June 2011

A-tishoo!

When I am Rich I will still live in the countryside, but not in the part of our green and pleasant land where I am now. I love having trees, grass and wild plants of all kinds as my neighbours. I have no problem with fields of wheat, barley, potatoes, beans, cabbages, turnips or other vegetables. Orchards would be a delight! But I don’t want to be in a place where I can see this from my window:




                                             
                                                A-tishoo!

                                   Oh, what is that honeyed fragrance  
that wafts on the summer breeze?   
‘Tis surely the scent of ambrosia      
that gods sup while taking their ease.

Is it the breath of sweet roses,
or lilies both costly and rare?
Does it drift from the north or the south,
this perfume that fills all the air?

I must find the source of this wonder,
so I follow my nose down the lane.
And there, like a giant’s spilled treasure,
is a shimmering, bright yellow plain.

I gaze at the dazzle of flowers
till my eyes and my nose start to stream.
Oh, no! Dreaded oilseed rape!
                                   Where’s my anti-histamine?



6 comments:

Twiglet said...

Stunning photo but it certainly seems to cause a lot of hayfever problems.

Linda D said...

You're right, Twiglet. I never suffered from hayfever until I came to live here. It wasn't too bad last year so I hoped I was becoming acclimatized to it, but this year several fields much closer to my house were planted up with the wretched stuff and my symptoms were as bad as ever. Thankfully, most of it has finished flowering now so I'm hoping the farmer will try something different next year.

Friko said...

Oilseed rape is long over round here.
I dislike the smell, it gets too sickly.

Nice to see you back.

SquirrelQueen said...

We live on the edge of town with wheat field all around. There are lots of wildflowers near the fields, it is beautiful in the summer. I just take my antihistamine and hope the wind blows the other way.

Daisy Debs said...

No , I dont like it either !

Aguilar Elliot said...

nice simile - "like a giant's spilled treasure."