{"id":27173,"date":"2021-05-04T23:30:46","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T22:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abingdonblog.co.uk\/?p=27173"},"modified":"2021-05-04T23:30:46","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T22:30:46","slug":"abingdon-a-poem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/?p=27173","title":{"rendered":"Abingdon \u2013 a poem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leigh has sent in this poem about Abingdon for the 10 poems about Abingdon blog project. Thankyou to her. I hope you enjoy it as I did.
\n
\nOn St Helen\u2019s wharf I stand
\nTo watch the water flow
\nReflecting lives lived long ago
\nClosing my eyes, I feel the sun grown strong within my soul
\nI sense the strength of the church behind me
\n
\nAcross the water, a monk catches my eye
\nHis cassock filled with holy treasure
\nHours spent in scripture and pleasure
\nLike a kingfisher he weaves through the reeds
\nFlashes of crimson on a somber breeze<\/p>\n

Make haste, the King’s men come tomorrow
\nWe must not let the Abbey fall
\nWe cannot let them have this all
\nWe must listen to Our Father\u2019s calls
\nAnd he is gone, I fear not long destined to be in his earthly world<\/p>\n

Now here are the boats, the Thames is alive
\nA clamor of passengers and cargo arrives
\nThe drinking begins, there are merry goings on
\nA large group of locals break into song
\nThe smell of Morland ale overwhelmingly strong<\/p>\n

A young boy approaches
\nLittle blond curls, a laughing face
\nA familiar imprint in an unfamiliar place
\nTwirling his wool cap, he is clearly enjoying the day
\nHe looks at me from years away<\/p>\n

I bend down to speak, what is this jubilee?
\nHe looks at me, wide eyed, I must know!
\nIt is Michaelmas Fair
\nSweet treats and games, not Latin and prayer
\nHe skips away floating on cobbles of air<\/p>\n

Change has come, bitterly cold
\nThe square filled young and old
\nSoldiers parading
\nA whole town commemorating
\nFalling silent for those lost before today<\/p>\n

Prayers for our men
\nThey bow their heads and line the Thames
\nA war to end all wars they said then
\nYet the bells tolls not once, but twice
\nAmen
\n
\nAnd finally I hear
\nMorris men approaching near
\nWith bells and music and Oxfordshire cheer
\nA whole town celebrating, salivating
\nWhilst buns burst down from the sky<\/p>\n

An apricot sun sets deep over Rye Farm
\nPainting brushstrokes across the sky with its arm
\nI bid a farewell to those who have passed
\nAnd I turn to wander home
\nRestful at last<\/p>\n

For this is where I hold my own memories near
\nAnd cherish those I love most dear
\nWhere a part of me will forever be
\nWoven with ghosts of whispered history
\nAbingdon<\/p>\n

Leigh Hogan – All Rights Reserved 2021<\/p>\n

P.S Blogging may be a bit patchy in May as I am coming and going a lot for family reasons. So please send in what you can to help fill out the month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leigh has sent in this poem about Abingdon for the 10 poems about Abingdon blog project. Thankyou to her. I hope you enjoy it as I did. On St Helen\u2019s wharf I stand To watch the water flow Reflecting lives lived long ago Closing my eyes, I feel the sun grown strong within my soul […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[176],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems-about-abingdon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27173\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abingdonblog.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}