A Front Garden Makeover
We moved into this house at Christmas
And things have been going quite well
I've repainted that patch by the window
And got rid of that dusky dank smell.
Fred and Sue are our left hand side neighbours
That's the North side looking out to the road
Whilst on the right- the Southern border
Is old Bob and Elsie's abode.
We haven't seen much of this couple
Don't hardly know anyones there
But the house is all ship shape and tidy
And the garden all neat and parterre.
Indeed all the road is a picture
With the gardens all well kept and green
In fact you can bet that come springtime
Not a dead leaf or weed will be seen.
So that's why I'm having to ponder
Upon our front garden you see
Although half the ground is quite charming
The South side has quite gone to seed.
It seems that the previous owner
Left that side all muddy and brown
And unless I do something about it
I'll be letting The Avenue down.
Fred and Sue say that I shouldn't bother
'Cause nothing is going to grow
But it's a nice sunny strip near Bob's border
And I know I should give it a go.
The garden centre man was most helpful
Some Cistus should happily thrive
And with a few more sun loving plants
That border should soon come alive.
The shrubs were duly delivered
And after the last frosts were done
They were planted staked and watered
And we waited for springtime to come.
It was April when we heard the commotion
Outside Bob's was a black Four by Four
Fred said that it was Bob's son 'young Eric'
Though we'd never seen him before.
His motor backed into Bob's garden
Past my boundary and into his back
From where there were grunts and some swearing
And the sound of a tarpaulin dragged back.
When Eric re-emerged in his vehicle
We could see he had something in tow
T'was a caravan being resited
It's shadow where my plants should grow.
Sue said it would stop there all season
Apart from the odd day away
And as Eric lives in a second floor flat
That van in Bob's garden will stay.
The Cistus are missing their sunlight
And most of the plants are now dead
So I've ordered three yards of grey gravel
And I'll have to lay that down instead.
Derek Salter
Shirley Close
Pagham
We would love more poems from you, please, on the theme of 'colour'.
Send to Poems, Sue Gilson, Observer Magazine, Unicorn House, Eastgate Square, PO19 1JN, or click here to send them via email. No returns.
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Weather for Chichester
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: West
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Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 19 C
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