The razing of Camelot.

It's all gone now
Now there are houses as far as the eye can see
And a forest of T-V aerials instead of the tall majestic trees
That were oh, so welcoming on hot summer days
To a group of young schoolboys let out to graze
Like pit ponies brought up the shaft
We too had been held down in deep, dark, winding, dismal tunnels
Tunnels of fathomless maths. Just as black. Just as treacherous
And we knew, yes we knew how the pit pony feels
To run, jump roll and kick up the heels high into the air
Free! Free! Without a care, hear me shout you trees! Without a worry
There is no better place to be in all of a Gods great big wonderful universe
Then here. Hear me shout you trees! Than here I say. On this particular day.
Oh yes! On that particular day back then. Back when?
Oh, a thousand years ago it's got to be
It stands like some half forgotten story someone may have told to me
It stands, along with Arthur's castle, wreathed in the mists of time
And the Lady of the Lake threatens to drag it down to be lost forever
Along with Excaliber
It is as much a mystery. It is as much a tale
When they chopped down the trees they chopped down Camelot
They're both hidden beneath the semis
Covered in hard core and kept neath concrete
And the brook of laughing water? Oh they choked it!
Yes, they saw it off. But they didn't have to kill the brook did they?
Didn't they know? Didn't they know that it wasn't just a brook?
There were field mouse's nests filled with little pink babies
Little frogs losing their tails. Little fish flashing silver
They never got to be bigger than an inch to my knowledge
They were there! They were there because they were always there!
Every year. Every year as sure as spring And now they're gone.
And all of Merlin's magic couldn't bring them back again
And the brooks merry coursing?
That's just the blood rushing through my inner ear at the anger I feel

Reviews

[Richard Knox]

Hello Bryan,
I liked this poem and I loved the idea of it: despair over the despoiling of Camelot. I was disappointed, though, when, it seemed to me, the allusion to Camelot was mostly abandoned at the halfway point. I so wanted to read more of your beautiful phrases lamenting the destruction of that which has, for millennia, symbolized a utopia. There is so much more to the ideal of Camelot that could be contrasted with the barbarism of today, I think. Still, it’s a fine poem that obviously has engaged my interest and thoughts.

[Bryan Sefton]

You could be right, Richard. The poem was a lot longer when I was writing it. But then it began wandering a way from my original intentions. I put it aside and lost interest. When I eventually came back to it I decided to chop off the start because I liked it to that point. I suppose that was me being lazy, but after your remarks I think I'll go back and have another go at it..Thanks for your observation.