lament for a dead badger

by Ann Foxglove

Monday 21st February 2011 7:48 am

There’s a badger on the road

pushed into the verge

lying in a puddle

getting rather nibbled

his fancy coat is raddled

all snarled up by the rain

Each time as I approach him

I seem to see him stand up

shake himself in puzzlement

get up and run away

If I lived close by him

I’d take him and I’d bury him

I’ll have to phone the council

get on to Environmental

tell them there’s a badger

lying outside Ferndale

he’s rotting and he’s waiting

for a decent badger burial

poor abandoned badger

lying lonely by the road.

Comments

Graham Eccles

Thu 24th Feb 2011 05:56

Be not sad for the badger, but be glad of his life, and the food for the crows and insects.
the sad thing is he was probably shot by a TB scared farmer and laid next to the road so it looked like he had been hit by a car. I hope not, but it is quite a commonly done thing.
Having hitched for many years and travelled the roads slower than most, i have seen lots of roadkill close at hand, and found 3 badgers in about 100 yards once. It sickened me, but also opened my eyes to the ways of some farmers.

John Aikman

Tue 22nd Feb 2011 22:07

High poetry here...puddle nibbled raddled..snarled. Lying, rotting waiting.

The last four lines...well, four and a half, would make a perfectly decent poem on their own...

there’s a badger
lying outside Ferndale
he’s rotting and he’s waiting
for a decent badger burial
poor abandoned badger
lying lonely by the road.

But, the first verse is just as good...

There’s a badger on the road
pushed into the verge
lying in a puddle
getting rather nibbled
his fancy coat is raddled
all snarled up by the rain

Fab, triff, neatness in a sad soggy bundle.

Dead lovely.

Jx

Philipos

Tue 22nd Feb 2011 19:46

Hi Ann - know how feel about the badger and I do see the bones of an odd one or two on common land either victim of a fox (doubtful) or natural causes - I learnt a new word today 'raddled' always like that about a poem. We are always so sentimental about such creatures and yet nature just recycles in the interests of hygiene x

Ann Foxglove

Tue 22nd Feb 2011 18:45

Today he is gone. RIP.

Cynthia Buell Thomas

Mon 21st Feb 2011 11:46

This is good, Ann, simple and engaging with your own personal touch of imagination. I remember you mentioned a dead badger a few days ago, after 'the dead pheasant' palaver.

Dave Bradley

Mon 21st Feb 2011 09:43

I've spent time in North Wales recently and saw quite a few dead badgers by the road. I suppose it means there's a healthy population if an unusually high number are being killed. But that doesn't take away from the poignancy of the fate of just one, which your poem captures well.

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lament for a dead badger

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