{"id":6901,"date":"2021-03-16T10:39:31","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T09:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/?p=6901"},"modified":"2021-03-16T10:39:31","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T09:39:31","slug":"march-1st-2020-st-davids-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/march-1st-2020-st-davids-day\/","title":{"rendered":"March 1st 2020 St David&#8217;s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d2wipdjmobk1g8.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/03\/13205608\/daffodil.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-6903\" src=\"https:\/\/d2wipdjmobk1g8.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/03\/13205608\/daffodil.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"193\" height=\"273\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>Prelude to poem \u2018March 1<sup>st<\/sup>, 2020, St David\u2019s Day\u2019<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>This poem was written last year, just before the World Pandemic 2020 exploded in the UK, during a time, when all we had to worry about was \u2018differences of opinion\u2019! That still remains, of course, and for me, my ongoing \u2018fight\u2019 is over \u2018styles of gardening\u2019 which impact on our environment and the wider picture.<\/p>\n<p>For nearly a decade, I have come up against a regime, driven by an allotment Committee, whereby diversity and heritage is not celebrated but, indeed, has been virtually obliterated! Order and uniformity is enforced, with apple and pear trees cut down, bushes removed, glyphosate used to kill weeds, and generally a \u2018scorched earth\u2019 approach, the idea being that each plot-holder can \u2018start afresh\u2019, with a blank canvas&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>I have my own triangle-shaped, half-plot, with two Morello cherry trees, apple, plum and pear trees and, my pride and joy, a beautiful Cydonia quince tree! I have a cultivated blackberry, red, black and white currant bushes, six blueberry bushes, and gooseberries too.<\/p>\n<p>There is a small pond: new people are not allowed ponds now! I have frogs, an earthworm rich soil, a visiting fox, blackbirds, long-tailed tits, robins, great tits and the occasional pigeon! I can\u2019t <u>ever<\/u> leave this piece of ground, as the Committee will cut down my trees! I am passionate about my style of gardening and know that increased diversity produces the greatest abundance.<\/p>\n<p>My plot is an oasis amongst devastation. Those who have suffered badly from this regime have left. I\u2019m holding out for as long as my health and strength can manage!<\/p>\n<p>PS I\u2019m looking for a toy-boy who likes gardening, romance would be nice, but, if they are of my way of thinking, I would like them to inherit my piece of paradise, to continue fighting for our beloved green spaces!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em><u>March 1<sup>st<\/sup> 2020, St David\u2019s Day<\/u> \u00a0by Ianthe<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Sister- sun\u2019s warm touch soothed my left shoulder,<\/p>\n<p>Deep, comforting heat&#8230;a gift, now I\u2019m older!<\/p>\n<p>Served to remind me of jewels, still to unfold,<\/p>\n<p>Bright, longer days, some relief from the cold&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>And, yet, daffodils nodded their yellow \u2018Hello\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Bees sought mauve crocus beneath branches below.<\/p>\n<p>I beamed, as I walked on this rain-sodden earth<\/p>\n<p>Revealing its bounty, declaring its worth.<\/p>\n<p>Harvesting broccoli, rhubarb, leeks and sorrel<\/p>\n<p>Caught Mr Blackbird scutter low, by the laurel.<\/p>\n<p>Robin perched on a twig, stretched out his fine wing,<\/p>\n<p>Long-tailed tits gathered, flitted, enjoying their sing,<\/p>\n<p>On turning, to glance down amongst parsley and sage,<\/p>\n<p>Was frogspawn clear-glistening behind the wire cage!<\/p>\n<p>Couched down in the pond, Marsh Marigold mingled<\/p>\n<p>It brought a flush to my face: my gloved-fingers fair tingled!<\/p>\n<p>I smiled, as I heard the \u2018wreckers\u2019 break glass,<\/p>\n<p>As <em>this <\/em>patch of land maintained its own Class,<\/p>\n<p>Undisturbed, full of life, \u201cHell! &#8230; Just pure Heaven!\u201d&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Counted spent summers here, at least ten years, plus seven!<\/p>\n<p>All this planning and building, the soil and its treasure&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>The hours of watching, listening, the joy and the pleasure,<\/p>\n<p>Fruitful promise, sure harvest, delight and surprise,<\/p>\n<p>Were all there&#8230;unfolding&#8230;in front of my eyes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">****************************************<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prelude to poem \u2018March 1st, 2020, St David\u2019s Day\u2019 This poem was written last year, just before the World Pandemic 2020 exploded in the UK, during a time, when all we had to worry about was \u2018differences of opinion\u2019! That still remains, of course, and for me, my ongoing \u2018fight\u2019 is over \u2018styles of gardening\u2019 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2234,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[526],"class_list":["post-6901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poety","category-the-arts","tag-ianthe-pickles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>March 1st 2020 St David&#039;s Day - Many Roads<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/march-1st-2020-st-davids-day\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"108\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/march-1st-2020-st-davids-day\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/march-1st-2020-st-davids-day\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"108\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b702436744d367c3b4e6ca9f727819fc\"},\"headline\":\"March 1st 2020 St David&#8217;s Day\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-16T09:39:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/march-1st-2020-st-davids-day\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":529,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/march-1st-2020-st-davids-day\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/daffodil.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ianthe Pickles\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Poetry\",\"The Arts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/march-1st-2020-st-davids-day\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/march-1st-2020-st-davids-day\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/march-1st-2020-st-davids-day\\\/\",\"name\":\"March 1st 2020 St David's Day - 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That still remains, of course, and for me, my ongoing \u2018fight\u2019 is over \u2018styles of gardening\u2019&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2234"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6901\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}