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A Different Landscape

different kind landscape

 

Stars above vanish
As the future changes shape
A new beginning

A quick scribble and jotted words to celebrate the fact that the Brexit saga finally comes to an end. The United Kingdom leaves the European Union at 11pm tonight, 31st January 2020. Although we are still kind of in it until the end of the year, with little say on the matter, today’s the day we officially go it alone. Again.

We’re gone. Now it’s time to move forwards and show what a great nation we are. Squabbles permitting.

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Oi, Britain!!!

Honestly.

I’m in the middle of a blogging break while I recover from one condition, and now find myself compelled to write a blog post about another situation. Thankfully, as I’m writing the post the situation isn’t as bad as it could have been, but a second earlier or later and there could have been no blog post.

I’m addressing this post to the drivers of the UK, but in effect it could apply to drivers anywhere, especially if said drivers lose control of all common sense when they get behind the wheel of their vehicle.

I’m sorry to say, drivers of Britain, but you are the worst. You bring down the concept of being human. You lose the ability of logical mind, and allow stupidity to control both yourself and the vehicle you are meant to be driving.

Tonight I was hit by a vehicle as I crossed a road. Luckily for me, it was only a bump with a very loud thud, although I doubt that the ‘human’ behind the wheel heard it over their ridiculously loud thumping music they were playing.

As I crossed the road, I noticed the black 4X4 turn into the road I was three-quarters of the way across. I thought to myself ‘that’s a bit close’, as I noticed it turning into the wrong side of the road (the correct side of the road was now behind me and I was way passed this… oh, and before you ask, the vehicle wasn’t there when I started to cross), and then the vehicle hit me. I stepped back into the road to see if the ‘driver’ had realised they had actually hit another human being, once I regained control of my senses after saying to myself “Did that actually just happen?”, and I think they did stop momentarily before turning into another road and driving off. As it was a residential street, I thought the vehicle may have parked somewhere, but it was nowhere to be seen when I had a quick look. No surprise there.

It’s actually no surprise I was hit by the vehicle thinking about it. Another driver, the other week, drove straight through regardless as I was crossing on a zebra crossing at a Tesco supermarket carpark. One vehicle to my right had stopped to allow me to cross, but the buffoon to the left turned out of one of the lanes and seemed oblivious to the fact that there was a crossing even there, let alone somebody using it.

I’ve seen vehicles overtaking queues of traffic on the wrong side of the road, on the wrong side of central reservations… speeding drivers narrowly missing being involved in collisions as they race regardless around winding roads – again on the wrong side of the road… I had a truck overtake me as I was driving on my right, only to turn left in front of me into the road I was approaching… I had a woman try to drive her car through my old car (literally, she rammed her car into the front of mine) as she wanted to turn left at a roundabout when she was in the wrong (right-turn) lane, but didn’t indicate and just decided to go. She was extremely un-lady lake when I ferociously honked my horn at her… motorcyclists undertaking and overtaking at any given opportunity… cyclists at night dressed in black without lights on, some even sending text messages on their mobiles whilst peddling – I mean wobbling – into the path of traffic… I’ve seen drivers swing their doors wide open without checking if anything (cyclist or car) was approaching…  I’ve seen drivers reversing the wrong way along one way streets (so their car was facing the right way)…  I’ve had a ‘professional’ coach driver sound their horn at me as they sailed passed me at speed when I was stopping at a red traffic light… on the news recently, there were images of impatient drivers driving the wrong way on a motorway to avoid a traffic hold up… and this list doesn’t even touch the surface.

I’m a driver. I know how frustrating it can be. I know it’s easy to make a mistake. But taking the time to think about the driving, rather than just blindly making the vehicle go, could save a whole lot of hassle. Being a little more patient, and courteous, both with yourself and the other ‘humans’ on the road, could save a lot of stress. Taking time to look carefully, using the roads correctly, allowing others time to do their things, would actually make the driving experience a little more pleasurable.

And this could also prevent YOU from killing somebody on the road.

Fortunately, not all drivers are like this – it may just be my turn to see them on the roads – but if you drive any way like in the examples above, or equally as stupidly, just think. Take a step back. Give yourself time.

Hopefully, British roads will become much better in the near future… that’s what I’m looking out for now. It’s a shame that a ‘near-death experience’ has prompted this post, but if this post encourages just one person to make a concerned effort to become a better driver, then writing the post has been worth it.

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A Spell for Evil

If I could cast a spell to eradicate all evil I would
To flood-fill the Earth with nothing but good
But the question arises ‘where to draw the line?
On whose definition, yours or mine?’
The division between evil and good is vague
Depending on which side of the fence you take
Wars have been fought over this divide
Where the realms of good and evil collide

If I could cast a spell to eradicate evil should I?
Take the chance before it passes me by?
Mould the world into the world that I want
Send evil away with a laugh and a taunt?

If I could cast a spell to eradicate evil I would
As long as the outcome was purely for good
But I can only affect my part of the world
No matter the magical power unfurled

And with three-fold-return things must be done with care
Perhaps replacing magic with a simple prayer
Intention is great for all that it’s worth
But can intention alone save the Earth?

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Earth Day 2019

The imaginary life of a water droplet

The streams of time passed through the land as they always had. They began, high up in the hills, tiny tiny droplets of water that swirled and massed and gathered together, gently rolling, merging, co-existing. Eventually, they began to flow, ever downwards, ever forwards.

Passed the tiny seedlings, the grass banks, the open fields, the ferns an the oak trees, they continued on their journey,

Under wooden bridges, rickety and ravaged by time they flowed. Salmon swam in the opposite direction, intent on continuing their cycle of life.

They followed the meanderings of their predecessors, this way and that, carving their way through the environment. They caught up with those gone before, becoming stronger. Wider.

Through villages they passed. Green lawns with tents and afternoon teas. Through more farmland, full with cows and sheep munching away on the ripest of grasses.

They came to abrupt halts every now and again as they arrived at man-made locks. Some flowed in a different direction as the joined man-made canals, others continued on their journey. Whichever way they went, they passed through the darkness.

Murky, oily waste water merged with them, slowing their flow, and removing most of the freshness from them. However, onwards they travelled.

Eventually, they found themselves mostly cleaner as they passed through parts of the man-made towns and cities that needed to use them. The more they were needed, the more the towns and cities grew. And every once in a while the darkness would return.

Onwards they travelled.

Out of the towns and cities, through yet more lush countryside until they reach their destination. The open seas. Some travelled ever onwards. Others joined the clouds, and travelled back into land to the hilltops to start another journey afresh.

A continuous circle.

But how long the circle continues to exist remains to be seen.