A motorway in all but name
the A14 trunk road blunders into
this delectable landscape
like an unruly oik
gatecrashing
a debutante’s party.
Fortunately,
its influence is transitory
and the canal re-asserts
its rural identity,
weaving a tortuous path between
the Hemplow Hills and the curiously named
Downtown Hill.
It crosses the infant
River Avon – which goes on in later life
to find fame and fortune
as Shakespeare’s Avon –
hereabouts forming the border.
From the article ‘WW Guide to the Leicester Section’ in Waterways World, September 2012 edition, p67. ‘556ft high’ has been omitted and the last sentence cut short. Submitted by Robbie.
Verbatim Poetry 