I see an apple crisp morning
Tumbledown fields, buttercup bright
Falling to the water meadows on Beaulieu River
I reach for a pen dipped in the well of legend
Lifting the veil to take me where I wish to go

Where a pinafore Alice skips through the fern grass
Searching the hedgerows for the White Rabbit
In the hush of evening I hear
hoof falls of fantasy beating on the dust road
Over the Malvern's hills and down to Middle Earth

I hear the wild wind crying shrill down the chimney piece
Run for comfort to the skirts of mother love
I see a caravan of pack horses laden with brandy barrels
Hear the jingle of harness, the call of the Night Riders
‘Watch the wall my darling while the gentlemen pass by’

I see a downy glade deep in the woodland
Where small winged creatures dance in the starlight
Where Oberon and Titania hold court under the peeping moon
What do you see Poet?
I see a long ago England.


Please note: ‘Watch the wall my darling while the gentlemen pass by’ is a direct quote from Rudyard Kipling’s A Smugglers Song