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Tuesday 7 February 2012

Requiem for the Rhondda

Picture by Elwyn Thomas a Rhondda Valley artist


Here, in these steep valleys
dreams were born.

Shorn of inherited illusion
I cast an Englishman’s eye
upon this skyline of
dark hills and dying chimneys.

A place where trees, like men
Are stunted from fire’s hunger
to consume both fuel and
feelings in time’s tumultuous flames,
and the most wonderful women
on earth beckon a welcome
from worn doorsteps.

The need now,
is to understand how
women scrimped and scraped
whilst boys escaped,
to leave these valleys
raped of coal,  to old men,
their faces full of forgetting,
and, to grieving girls
whose lilting voices and
lovely bodies weaved magic
between mountains and mountings.

In the shade of once green hills,
And tall towers of  fruitful trees,
eaves of slate still cast familiar shadows
in narrow streets,
and something beats
which tames time’s
relentless tick and fearful tock.

To see beauty here
requires a nearness, denied.
A growing, a knowing,
a sowing of seeds
with people not places.
To see in the faces
ancestral expressions
that transcend chapels,
and choirs and dragons
and rugby and leeks, but
speaks of these valleys
with authentic voices;
rejoicing  a birth of belonging,
stranding strangers like me
on shores of loathing and longing.

© James Rainsford 2012



Note to readers: Posted as my contribution to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets.
This was written some time ago, as a tribute to a time I once spent visiting the mining valleys of South Wales. 
Your views are welcome. Please click on the comments tab below to record them.
Kind regards to all at dVerse Poets. James.

13 comments:

  1. a different time and place... "which tames time’s
    relentless tick and fearful tock"... nice

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  2. Nice capture of the mining valleys ~ I like these lines best:


    whilst boys escaped,
    to leave these valleys
    raped of coal, to old men,
    their faces full of forgetting,
    and, to grieving girls
    whose lilting voices and
    lovely bodies weaved magic
    between mountains and mountings.

    ReplyDelete
  3. When we really see and know the people, we really know the land as well--Beautifully written!

    @AudreyHowitt

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  4. A growing, a knowing,
    a sowing of seeds
    with people not places

    that is what it is all about for me...the people...they have more a sense of place than the places...i have been to coal towns too...some really depressed places...

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  5. I've read a lot of ancient Welsh mythology, and they seem to have been an amazing people to me--you treat them well in this poem, and make me wish I could see that valley, and the women poised "between mountains and mountings." Beautiful, sad and poignant writing, James.

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  6. The people are always the ones that tell the story, town may be full of it but the people bring it to life. Even though they could be full of it too, but that's another story..haha

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  7. Magnificent poem in more ways than I can describe here, but absolutely love this profound piece!

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  8. An eye for detail, in this case, the people who make up the place. I'm very much the same. Someone once told me that if I was a cat, I would be the one stretched out on the tree limb to watch the people go about the task of living. This is wonderfully written.

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  9. beckon a welcome
    from worn doorsteps

    What a pleasure to read James! Thank you....

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  10. James! I could simply fall into that painting...and then the sheer life your words lend...just fantastic!

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  11. A delight to read, lovely !

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  12. Quite the lovely write and I have to mention that I enjoyed how you chose to sneak a few very interesting lines in here that if one were not paying very close attention to what they were reading, they would completely miss them. Bravo!

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  13. Dear James...I don't often get caught up in these blog awards, but this case is a special one when it comes to uniting word weavers, and it's one I'd like to share with you. I am granting you the Liebster Blog award. You can come and visit me to claim your prize...(if you've the time!) :) Hope you have a wonderful day!

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If you wish your views and opinions to be published here, please be polite and respectful. I welcome feedback on my work and will try to respond if you take the trouble to post a comment. Thanks for visiting 'The Sanctum of Sanity.' Hope you enjoyed the experience, James.