steamed up windscreen attracts a playful finger
the smiley ghosts in and out of view
through October's low sunsets
and at each evening condensation
I know it was you
I recognise that smile
~
CLP 13/10/2021
on autumn
Tag Archives: October
On the Street vi
Gutters now blocked
by leaves, twigs and dropped masks
We’re facing a flood
~
CLP 05/10/2020
October (VI)
The Sun weakens now
While our eyes are distracted by October colours
Our cooling skin does not lie
.
CLP 19/10/2019
October (III)
These last are not low hanging
But harvest them we must
Ripened on the upper boughs
The topmost, sun-blushed fruit
Balanced between earth and sky
We climb and stretch
To where they sit
Well nigh, just out of reach
If there’s a slip, they ricochet from branch to trunk to orchard floor
Gashed and bruised in descent
These will be the first we eat
The rest, the best, the sweetest
We carry carefully to the winter store
.
CLP 16/10/2019
October (I)
Irregular beats
Speckle tight canvas cover
Rain’s rhythm persists
.
n.b. Now there is plenty of rain. October in Somerset has been remarkably wet. The damp air has slowed the arrival of autumn colours, although grass is turning yellow where the roots have become saturated.
This afternoon I saw a washed out, pale pink earth worm writhing on the sodden lawn, after it had struggled to the surface in the middle of another intense period of the seemingly unceasing rain. The local blackbirds are happy for such gifts.
The water table will benefit and the streams will refill. However, in the local village, many house owners have replaced grass with hard-surfacing for car parking. This ground work increases surface run-off that puts pressure on the drainage system, designed before car ownership had reached current levels. Combined with erratic rain patterns that produce intense, or prolonged periods of precipitation, risks of flash flooding and water damage increase as a result of further moulding the land for the convenience of motorised transport.
Three years ago The Guardian published the following article, but the message does not seem to have got through.
Why concrete + rain = flash floods
Increasing pressure on local government finances, due to national government’s “Austerity” measures, has led to more street parking restrictions in residential areas. Residents then replace front gardens with personal car parking; this restricts street parking capacity because these car drivers need to access these spaces directly across the pavements, which encourages more property owners to convert gardens to car spaces. Then when it rains, flood risk rises as there is less natural soak-away for rainwater to filter through.
In the three years since this article there is little evidence of any reduction in the process of concreting over gardens, nor any inkling of acneed to reverse this process.
CLP 11/0/2019
