Moles
Humans, like frozen driftwood, have been in disarray
but it is a good year for the snowdrops
which have blossomed and have thrived amongst the snow,
bringing only joy; a sign of spring, a flash of hope,
a fillip for our jaded, over-wintered souls.
Beneath my frozen ground are really far too many moles;
furry illegal immigrants with their really tiny hearts
that are surely gentle and as soft as their coats.
I cherish them, ignoring their giant hills of dark black earth
which cover nearly all the garden and beyond.
Pitying their homelessness, their temporary state,
I treat them just as guests,
for like all vagrants they must be forever on the move
and are always made unwelcome in our cruelly human world.
They seem to be just pausing for a while and taking stock,
gaining some ground, but always losing more,
quietly hidden and hurting no-one.
Cait O'Connor
16 comments:
I would love to catch a glimpse of a mole, i dont believe ive ever seen one. As our new house will be on the edge of a country park we may even get a few in the new garden! I dont mind if they want to leave muddy hills in my manicured grass and flower beds, as long as they are happy!
Aqeela xx
I would like a sampler of your new header! I look around my study: such disarray, with books everywhere, and papers, and magazines articles, and of course the odd dirty mug.
I imagine your garden as a wild place, with some cultivated beds. It is a good thing to have the temperament and aesthetic which allows for random molehills.
Why, we wonder, as we look out of the garden at the acres and acres of pasture around us, do the moles choose our little patch of lawn?
Sadly the only moles I've seen have been dead ones but what beautiful creatures they are - truly velvety.
No moles here, except the little stuffed ones in the toy stores. I remember the Prairie Dogs in Alberta though - the only things that ever made me wish for a gun (sorry!)
Oooh how insightful and lovely. xo
Love this!
I could never be unwelcome to a mole. Not after WInd in the WIllows!
Happy Spring!
The soil the moles throw up in the mole hills is wonderful for growing seeds in particularly cabbages and beetroot and those sort of things. Mark the rows out with either a hoe or a piece of angle iron. Sift the fine soil into it, water and then sow the seeds. (When the weather gets a bit better!!)
We always knew when the moles had been active because of the piles of dirt they threw up into the yard. We had great fun tamping them down, but then children can be so cruel...Memory is an odd thing, isn't it?
Lovely poem, but you are far more forgiving of the little blighters than I could ever be.
Love the poem :)
The philosopher Montaigne wrote a lot about Moles, as did Schopenhauer: he thought they embodied the concept of WILL as the driving force of life. Why do they go on Montaigne pondered? What is the point of their dark underground existence...
Sorry, I'm getting all philosophical... and I rather like moles too.
That was a wonderful poem, Cait! We have a few million around here, too. :<)
Hello Cait,
I love the little Moley's, know they do a lot of upheavel to our gardens with their gorgeous paws but I could not hurt them. Think of Mr Moley in Wind in the Willows at the riverbank, that wonderful picture springs to mind.
xx
Forgot to mention Cait, love your Poem on Moles.
You write so well Cait, this lovely poem would be very fitting for entry into a little story/poem book.
xx
I had those suckers in my yard and gardens when I lived in Tennessee... and your attitude towards them is the best, because there is NOTHING you can do to get rid of them. Believe me, I tried!!! I don't think I would have minded the hills so much if they didn't break my lawnmower every time I tried to mow. I had to spend an hour stomping the hills down before I could start the mower every week.
they want to leave muddy hills in my manicured grass and flower beds, as long as they are happy!
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