Our little village that we call home <br />is not important, large or rich, <br />two dozen cottages at most, <br />a farm or two, a failed hotel, <br />no shops, no post office, or bus <br />but yes, we have a splendid pub <br />and lots of fields that lie between <br />the sea and Humber estuary. <br />When summer comes the hay is cut, <br />the crops are duly harvested, <br />and pasture’s grazed by cows and sheep, <br />a place of peace much loved by those <br />who come to 'bird' or just relax. <br />Each year the sea extracts its toll — <br />two yards at least of crumbling cliff, <br />we live with this and on the whole <br />feel safe enough for we rely <br />upon our modest sea defences. <br />But that alas was in the past, <br />for now, out of the blue, we learn <br />from those empowered to protect <br />that future policy will be <br />to abandon Kilnsea to the sea: <br />we are too few, lack industry <br />(forget the lifeboat, pilots, ABP, <br />they do not count apparently) , <br />no, we are not worth defending, <br />nor can the costs be justified <br />of building or repairing banks <br />to stand against the sea’s advance. <br />The price, they say, of building these <br />outweighs the value of our village. <br />Poor Kilnsea is expendable, you see. <br />Forget the reign of King Canute, <br />Today accountants rule the waves <br />And money is their only yardstick. <br /> <br />Envoi <br /> <br />It is ironic that the money <br />that could protect us and our village <br />will go instead to two lagoons, <br />the habitat of saline worms <br />and various small Crustaceae, <br />that lie nearby and constitute, <br />we’re told, a triple S.I. — oh my, <br />there must be a moral somewhere here!<br /><br />Pete Crowther<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/poor-kilnsea/
