Pause For Poetry:
Michael Hawkes /40

Those Days of Yore

A poem by Michael Hawkes

March 3, 2022

We may wish we wanted what we wanted long before,
In those uncertain days

When climatic change and perpetual foreign war
Were recklessly appraised.

When exotic things to eat were replete in every store,
Then cooked in foreign ways
Assuaged the latest craze.

When smoky fume filled skies we didn’t yet abhor
Made for hazy busy days.

When spiteful pilots bombed every city that they saw
And set the world ablaze.

When the many gassed in trenches, contrary to all law
Left mankind in a daze.

When forests stood in splendour and across the open moor
Sheep could safely graze.

When man was chivalrous, as in the days of yore,
In sweet romantic ways.

When we wished upon a star and regarded ancient lore,
In those most halcyon of days.

20/03/27 –  Hawkes

CAS POETRY READING ON MARCH 15

The Centre des arts de Stanstead is pleased to present, live from the Maritimes, Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation poets Shannon Webb-Campbell and Douglas Walbourne-Gough who will read from their work in an online event taking place Tuesday, March 15 at 7 pm, on Zoom, with host Shelley Pomerance. For the link to participate, visit the CAS Facebook page. 

Feature image: Tonbridge Castle, John K Thorne via StockPholio.net

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