Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Corner View: The Unveiling


I am from open coal fires, from Marmite, fish fingers and Wall's ice cream.

I am from the half-thatched farmhouse on top of the hill, with tumbledown barns, rutted drive and cluttered yard.

I am from hedgerows of hawthorn, elderflower and blackberry; from green pastures, corn fields and hay meadows.

I am from summer holidays and sandy beaches, from stoic countrymen in wellington boots, from village and countryside.

I am from cooks and teetotallers, from farmers and higglers.

From "do your best" and "mustn't grumble".

I am from Primitive Methodists, from John Wesley, harvest festivals and Sunday School anniversaries.

I am from Buckinghamshire farmland and wuthering northern moors, from roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.

From the trenches of World War I, pheasant shooting in No-Man's-Land and poison gas; from haymaking in trousers tied with string to keep out the field mice.

I am from faded, nameless monochrome photographs, from Super 8 film of happy children playing, from slideshows of family holidays from years gone by. Beloved memories slip out of focus into distant genealogies. I am my past.

(A Where I'm From poem first posted back in 2006)

Visit Jane at Spain Daily for more corner views from around the world.

9 comments:

Kaylovesvintage said...

Hi, nice to meet you

Pamela said...

It is so great to meet you! I love your poem - it brings back so many memories - coal fires (when my Mum rented a holiday cottage for Christmas 2001, the first requirement was for it to have a coal fire) - Wall's ice cream (with a Flake tucked in the top) - wellington boots (my husband actually bought a pair in a little shop in Yorkshire and they took up almost the whole suitcase!) - hedgerows of...blackberry (picking them from along the side of the lane and taking them home to be made into jam by Mum). I love the template - I'll be giving it a go soon.

Jodi said...

I love a smiling face. thanks for posting!

Melanie Bettinelli said...

"higglers"? An intriguing word.

onegoldensun said...

That is a wonderful poem.

likeschocolate said...

Love it!

Anonymous said...

It's so nice to see your face. Makes me even sadder that you live so far away.

Romany said...

Loved the poem, K. So much I had to do one of my own.

http://romany-youdidwhat.blogspot.com/2009/07/where-im-from.html

But yours is shorter because I didn't know when to stop.{vbg}

Elizabeth (My Reading World) said...

Lovely poem!