1469

Where once the Drove Road ambled to the coast

To ship the lambs to London and the west

It peters out in terraces and lanes

Suburbanised with Chardonnay and toast.

No shepherds lead their flock across the Downs,

No lambs gambol slowly to the sea;

The sheep are segregated from the road

Which seers its croncrete way into the ground,

And though the seasons keep their wonted place

Rolling on impervious to change

The Downs lie silent underneath the roar

Of Tesco lorries angling to displace

The peace that you created at the start

To resonate within each loving heart.

Brian Hick May 2016

©copyright Sally Hick 30.5.26

 1288

Changes? What  changes?

No one wants to argue, we want to stay the same,

Keep it as it used to be, no need to complain -

Of course we're losing members, one by one they die,

But long as we enjoy ourselves, there's no reason why

We should make any changes to the things we do

After all they're good enough, right now, for me and you.

Brian Hick June 2013 after church meetings.

©copyright Sally Hick 30.6.25

 1337

How many years ago did I sit in

The Orange Tree

While Lucy skated

Waiting with a coffee

Writing verse?

Today I wait while you are visiting

A friend in Bexhill

Sitting in Walkers

At our usual table

Writing this.

Has anything really changed?

Brian Hick February 2014

©copyright  Sally Hick 14.2.25

 1115

Change is in the air, but not decay

Unless you think that age is all downhill

And after thirty everyting's one way.

Change is in the air.

The house is on the market and though the bill

For all that that involves might cause dismay,

We face the challenge with a ready will - 

Enthusiasm even - that each day

Can only bring more joy for us, until

We reach the final step along the way.

Change is in the air.

Brian Hick February 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 8.2.24

 1051

The world is moving and I'm not prepared

For this constant change, where everything

Disintegrates; what was secure is pared

Beyond the bone and we can cling

To nothing save the fact that we ill die.

If we were happy, why not once again,

But what hope happines for your and I

When all around is misery and pain?

So that's it then, let's all give up and end,

Regardless of the things that we enjoy

And, when we've had a drink, maybe append

A moral for the rest - just to annoy.

'No matter that you're dying to move on;

You've only got one life - and phut, it's gone.'

Brian Hick November 2011

©copyright Sally Hick 4.12.23

 1003

A time of change? A time to reassess?

Though ever shifting clouds allow a glimpse

Of Truth, the fractured shards are marred by darkness

A time of change?

We know we need to, but the idea trips

Up against the problems and the mess

Of any unknown futures which eclipse

Brief benefits - let alone the stress

Of action - when we could just purse our lips,

Sit silent and do nothing in excess.

A time of change?

Brian Hick September 2011

©copyright Sally Hick 29.9.23