The Poem of the Month for March 2022, selected by 2022 Anthology Editors, Veronica and David Cookson, is Villages of the Mendip Hills by Pat Lee. The commended poem for March is They Call Me Nana by Sarah Radford.
Villages of the Mendip Hills
Pat Lee
Somerset Great Britain
To reach the Mendip Hills
we followed roads, mere lanes,
like twirling ribbons across the countryside,
and through autumnal arches
with branches touching tips above the road,
and fluttering leaves, small welcome flags
to villages of my ancestors.
Their low doored cottages still stand,
with roofs of thatch or slate
and front doorsteps of stone, worn down,
now level with the narrow road.
This day the village air is dense with noise:
the sure swift slice of cars, quiver windows,
rumbling lorries and chugging tractors,
shudder cottage walls.
Once the only sounds;
the steady trot and creak of horse and cart,
seasonal songs of the robin redbreast,
the rasping caw of a slow winged crow
and church bells on Sunday.