There's still a Church and Chapel
A pub, but no longer a school
For there on the council
Childless incomers rule.
There are houses on allotments,
Pastures where cows would graze
Have asphalt and concrete with
SUV's not animals these days.
Village shops are long gone,
You are marooned where you are
With the busses near non existent
If you don't have access to a car.
Many farms that were working
Now merged for economy
In the modern style of
Large scale agronomy.
The old farmhouses sold
So that these days they stand
Separated from their past
In just smidgens of land.
Farms doesn't need the labour
They used to need before
Modern machinery is faster
And can do so much more.
The old families are long gone,
Can't afford to live there now,
Monied incomers now building
On Land once under the plough.
Villages retirement dormitories
Near deserted during the day
The workers commuting to and
Fro the city in the modern way
Some are holiday homes
Empty most of the year
Keeping their own company
The few days they reside here.
Once my family village
Home of many generations
Now we are gone in those
Country to city migrations.
I visit the graves infrequently
For these days I find
What used to be there still
Floods through my mind.
The last of my village friends
Very recently passed and gone
And now the time has come
For me to finally move on.
Country life has changed
Now a location of the monied class
Progress is progress I suppose but
So sad i lived to see it come to pass.
