Tony Cavender grew up where industrial East Lancashire borders on rugged Bronte country. A keen walker, he has hiked in the Karakoram, Picos de Europa, Pyrenees, Alpuharras, and the Alps. In this country, his favourite places are in Cornwall and the Lake District
He is a retired teacher (a former Head of English, Modern Languages and Humanities) and has a particular interest in the poetry of the First World War. He has self-published two collections of poetry, and has had poems published by Paper Swans Press and Winchester Poetry Festival.
Paul Nash’s Trees
The Menin Road by Paul Nash © © IWM Art.IWM ART 2242 (WMR-82021)
Wittenham by Paul Nash
IWM (Q 82530)
Wire by Paul Nash
IWM (Art.IWM ART 2705)
By the side of the Menin Road
The trees are linked
In silent mycorrhizal agony.
Stripped of bark and leaf,
Oak and ash and poplar
Are indistinguishable skeletons
Scarecrowing a bird-less sky.
Around them the ground humps and gapes;
Yellow water suppurates in muddy holes.
High on Wittenham Clumps
The trees are cheerful,
Wearing their spring-green finery
Like the feathers in the hats
Of elegant, race-going ladies.
Below them the ground is rich brown earth
Blood and bone have fertilised
Over and over, over the centuries
Of human occupation.
Tony Cavender
Photo Credits:
Images from The Imperial War Museum © Crown copyright reproduced under delegated authority from The Keeper of Public Records
The Menin Road by Paul Nash Credit: © © IWM Art.IWM ART 2242 (WMR-82021)
Wittenham 1935 by Paul Nash. Watercolour on paper. Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
Paul Nash Poster: Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205326777
Wire: Image: © IWM (Art.IWM ART 2705)