I met a nice old lady in the park with her black poodle on a lead <br />She smiled and said a lovely day a lovely day indeed <br />She had a warmth about her this marvellous old dear <br />The marigolds were blooming it was their time of the year. <br /> <br />I detected an English accent and though I did not mean to pry <br />To ask her what place she came from I could not leave the chance go by <br />I asked what part of England did you come from she said from Helpston the Village of John Clare <br />He was a renowned Nature poet and People like him rare. <br /> <br />She continued when I was only twenty I yearned for places new <br />And I migrated to Australia in nineteen fifty two <br />The wanderlust was in me and I hit the wandering track <br />And to Helpston in Northampton I never did go back. <br /> <br />I married a good Aussie bloke in nineteen fifty four <br />And he like our son and daughter is not with me anymore <br />Our children died in a car crash in their twenties my husband passed on last year <br />Though I can sense their presence to me their spirits near. <br /> <br />My husband died of asbestos related cancer John Hardie's awful stuff <br />To see him suffer so much to say the least was tough <br />I felt happy for him when he passed on luck to him was unkind <br />His ashes on the beach at Shoreham I scattered to the wind. <br /> <br />Enough she said of my sob stories this here is my dog Matt <br />He wagged his stubby curly tail I gave his head a pat <br />She bid me goodbye with a sweet smile and shuffled on her way <br />The marigolds were blooming it was a lovely day. <br /> <br />A lovely gray haired lady from the Village of John Clare <br />He was a renowned Nature poet and people like him rare <br />She's had her ups and downs but that's life I do suppose <br />And the thorn can give a nasty prick on the green stem of the rose.<br /><br />Francis Duggan<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/from-the-village-of-john-clare/
