The Silver Trees Poem by heather sweeting

The Silver Trees

Come, let us sail past Windland, that strange land in the sea,
Where nothing grows and no one lives except the ‘silver trees’.
It used to be called Great Britain, renowned for football and tea,
Home to easy going people, much like you and me!
But politicians there had visions, and desperately eager to please,
Fervently courted renewable power from wind exclusively.
Field on field of ripened grain and field on field of sheaves,
Disappeared under silver turbines with their humming silver leaves.

First there were just a few to be seen with their lofty metal trunks,
Each topped with a trefoil of shining blades, turning in the sun.
But soon they were marching in legions, across the hills and dales,
From the Cairngorms to the Cotswolds and then across to Wales.
They overcame towns and villages clogging both stream and river,
The turbines ravaged everything, their wind power to deliver.
No one could pass between them, they stood so thickly set
The cries of the people trapped therein echo even yet.

Politicians didn’t listen, continuing with their plan
To cover the whole of the beautiful land with power hungry fans.
By lakes, on hills and out to sea they clustered close together
And seemingly only stirred to life if there was windy weather.
No cargo ships or containers could reach the benighted land,
No launch could land on the beaches to offer a helping hand.
The whole of the island was blighted, people brought to their knees,
As the turbines destroyed their harbours and obliterated quays.

There was now no land to cultivate, no wheat to make the bread,
Nothing to give to the populace, no way they could be fed.
That was when the people starved - they never stood a chance,
The silver trees then filled the sea across to Belgium and France.
One man alone it seems was spared; he grabbed a tent and fled
Down to the southernmost tip of the land, close to Lizard Head,
The turbines almost buried him as he ran to a cave and hid,
His feeble voice is still heard today mumbling………National Grid…
National Grid………………..National Grid……………..!


HLS