MEMORIES OF PONTEFRACT THAT NEVER FADE

HOME

by KATHLEEN STRINGER FAIRBURN

Time goes by but memories stay of another land so far away

Of wooded hills, a forest glade, memories of them will never fade.

It’s the simple things I yearn for, that I miss so very much,

Daisies, cowslips, bluebell woods, celandines and such.

My poetry, though simple, is therapy for me

Whenever I am yearning for that land across the sea.

Whenever I feel nostalgic or simply cannot sleep

My mind transports me back in time to take another peep.

In my mind I travel freely as I wander up and down

Country lanes and woodlands that surround my native town.

Luscious green meadows I pass by, hedgerows of poppies and ‘motherdie’

I hear the raucous cries of rooks and crows – see hedges of Hawthorne and briar rose

Pastures of grazing ewes and tups, spangled with the yellow of buttercups.

Oh dear Lord, why do these thoughts still prevail?

I should have left them behind when we set sail to make our lives in another land

For this feeling of loss I had never planned

Love for my homeland is clear to see,

It is my heritage – what makes me – me!

My Aussie friends understand and indulge me with a patient smile

They know there’s no hope of ever changing this avowed Anglophile!

Kathleen Stringer Fairburn