Letters

The Bard's Prayer

I wrote the poem below in response to discovering that Bovey Tracey town council are spending £750 of our money on seeking legal advice to lift the covenant which protects the fields off Le Molay Littry Way to be used 'for the benefit of the community' only - and that certainly does not include a supermarket, in my book! Or, judging by the amount of people attending the council meeting on Monday 21st November - not in their books either! I was able to read out this poem at the meeting, as a resident of Bovey Tracey and as holder of the title Bard of Exeter. It was received with much foot-stomping, clapping and cheering.
THE BARD'S PRAYER
Our fields which art in Devon
Hallowed be thy green
If Sainsbury's come
Death will be done
To this earth, our little bit of heaven.
Give us this day our daily breath
And leave us our local shops
As we give them our custom willingly
And lead us not to the consumerist temple
But deliver us from corporate unsustainability
For ours is the freedom
The fields and the community
For ever and ever
Amen. Jackie Juno

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