Rivertown United Reformed Church

I wandered slowly down the road
That winds its way o’er vale and hill,
When all at once I saw a load
Of litter, it made me feel quite ill.
Beside the path, beneath the trees,
Clattering and blowing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
Were wrappers from Mars and Milky Way,
Bottles and coke tins in a line;
Along the Prom, toward the bay.
Thousands I saw at a glance
Tossing about in a litter dance.

The waves beside them danced
But they disgraced the waves untidily,
A poet could not be entranced
In such dreadful company.
I gazed around and then I thought,
What hurt this sight to me had brought.

So oft when on my bed I lie,
That sight will in my mind intrude,
It penetrates my inward eye,
Destroys my peace and solitude,
And then my heart with anger fills
And longs for Wordsworth’s daffodils.

Marion Smith (cousin of Margaret Jones)

Thank you Margaret for sharing this poem with us, I’m sure we can all empathise with it.