A Fallow Year at Worthy Farm
No Glastonbury Festival occurs
at Worthy Farm in twenty twenty-six.
the land, where banished wildlife once more stirs
can testify to Nature’s magic fix.
No chemicals from leaky porta-loos
will seep into the grassed and flowery leas;
and cows—usurped by punters swigging booze
or smoking weed—will taste an unspoiled breeze.
No headlining cacophony to set
the eardrums thrumming, nor that resonates
through music fans enslaved by sudden debt
from tickets purchased at dynamic rates.
No litter-laden, muddy, tented sea
this year will mar the British countryside.
Instead, the moo of cow, the buzz of bee
and sigh of wind through branches will abide.
Editor’s Note: The Glastonbury Festival is the largest open field music festival in the world. Every fifth year the festival is not held to give locals and the land a break.
Paul A. Freeman is the author of Rumours of Ophir, a crime novel which was taught in Zimbabwean high schools and has been translated into German. In addition to having two novels, a children’s book and an 18,000-word narrative poem (Robin Hood and Friar Tuck: Zombie Killers!) commercially published, Paul is the author of hundreds of published short stories, poems and articles.
Thank you, Paul, for this humorous but also poignant poetic reflection. I feel your language, juxtaposing mundane and vulgar references to human activity and pretty references to the natural world, effectively evokes the intrusion into the rural setting. It reminds me of Betjeman. Best wishes, Bruce
Very interesting poem, Paul. I think Bruce’s comments nailed it. I did some further research, and was a bit surprised to learn that the festival, though impressively massive, only lasts for five days. But imagine a Woodstock four years out of every five! Definitely understand the desire and need for the fallow year.
Paul, Your leaky loos, like the leaching septic system under my lawn, may well make the grass a tad bit greener. And in the off-year the cow poop may well serve a similar purpose. Personally, my vote is for the cows. Good humor with a point. And kudos for finding inspiration from something that doesn’t happen; a non-event; an absence. A pastorale with a twist.