Encirclement

 

No visible or discernible change

of an old familiar landscape

Shapes and scenes the same

spires, stiles and hedgerows

Winding rivers with swans and ducks

bridges over which to peer 

On rusted tracks once filled

with steam and whistles

New sounds bring new echoes

reverberating engines

Aeroplanes, fly high and low

calls are unfamiliar and invasive

Shadowy intruders with

tongues, new and foreign

We withdraw as do rabbits

into our labyrinth of warrens

Two aggressors encircle the land

one to kill the other to diminish us

They work in tandem against

our fortress once thought impregnable

Now vulnerable and laid bare

We no longer amble or walk

but scurry to be kept safe

The battle has its own victory

as we await an ignominious

defeat