G8

I wrote this in 2005 when Gleneagles in Scotland hosted a G8 meeting. My wife and I were on a cycling holiday in Holland and our son was at University in Edinburgh. Funny how I should unearth this poem shortly before Scotland hosts another international get together; COP 26, The United nations Climate Change Conference. I sincerely hope the disappointment that followed the G8 in 2005 is not repeated in 2021. I’m not holding my breath though.

G8

I’m in Holland
Cycling along the dykes
And marvelling at how
The sea is kept at bay.

My son is in Edinburgh,
Marching with the thousands,
Each fighting, in their own way,
Against the tide.

Not much sign of poverty
In these Dutch villages,
The fertile polders, a far cry
From parched Africa.

But are we so different,
My son and I?
Stephen with his vision
Of saving the World,

And me, with my vision
Of a million people
Each with a finger
Stuck firmly in the dyke.

Derek Ross