Under this summer sun wild flowers bloom.
And ancient trees at ease stand broad and tall.
Caterpillars drop like hazel catkins
Whilst skylarks burble in the meadow grass.
Somewhere, a song thrush finds its finest hour,
A masterclass in glorious song and splendour.
These fields are haunted by the life we’ve lost;
Too few, alas, these ghosts of what has gone.

Today we completed loop four of the Hertfordshire Chain Walk, passing through some magnificent fields that have been left to nature. Bursting with life they lifted my spirits, only for the barrenness beyond them to be made starkly clear.
(28.06.25)

© Ben Quant 2025