This poem by Gloria Dales was originally published on Stop HS2 last year. There’s an amazing array of talent and ideas among people who oppose HS2, ranging from writing songs and poetry to studying and analysing documents in depth. All are really important in the fight to Stop HS2.
HS2 – The Choice, which Growth
As man and earth face future choices,
We must listen to seven billion voices,
There are two routes that we can take,
One to reap, or one to break,
Is it money that supplies our need,
Or our land that thrives with scattered seed?
Will nature keep us future bound,
Assuring us with prolific ground?
For without green land our future’s bleak,
Temptation led to fortune seek,
The wealth that grows is as a vine,
Entwining, spreading over time,
Tendrils searching every space,
That’s been taken by the human race,
The vine of urban spread unfurls,
A future for our boys and girls,
What future is it that we pass?
One of concrete or one of grass?
A concrete future fed by fools,
Or a greener future led by rules,
Offices, factories, homes expand,
As urban sprawl floods overland,
Connections by whatever fare,
Get faster, shorter, hasten there,
To where? You enquire, wherever there lies,
Sky-scraping buildings all filling the skies,
Where people can gather to earn vast amounts,
For settling loans, deals and credit accounts,
If we take the fast route, fill in all the spaces,
There’ll be no resources from natural places,
No fields for our food growth, or rivers to quench,
We’ll suffer the measures of human made stench,
Green views cast from memory, no forests remain,
To turn what we breathe out, into fresh air again,
Too many people, will hasten demise,
So spreading fast outwards is truly unwise.
Some voices are singing a song of lament,
While others are dancing at the choice of cement,
Some weep for our country, its soul and its health,
While others still gamble our future on wealth,
As man and earth face future choices,
We must listen to seven billion voices,
Hear what they say, and act to preserve,
The earth and its people, as a future reserve.
Kind regards,
Gloria Dales
18th January, 2012