THE DELAYING M42, THE IMMINENT NIGHTFALL & THE BARELY SEEN BADGERS... (My new poem about the Temple Balsall badgers...)

 The Delaying M42, The Imminent Nightfall & The Barely Seen Badgers…

Between junctions four and five, the M42 traffic moved northwards slowly,

Three lanes crawling into the neck of an imaginary bottle

And an exit at Solihull, due to an early evening closure. 

The light waned, whilst hopes of seeing any badgers soon diminished.

The copse was laden by a sinuous gloom, with green ground shrubs finally

Growing from the dark, dank earth, echoing to the prattle

Of birdsong and the bleating of nearby sheep, unsure

As shadows became distorted and daylight rapidly vanished…

It was time to leave. It was. It really was.

It was too dark. It was. It really was…

Then, barely visible a badger began to sup

At the upper edge of a sett’s entrance.

It was almost indistinct, yet it glanced up,

Its markings clear, despite the distance.

I was about to leave. I was. I really was.

It was twilight. It was. It really was…

Then, close by, a cub’s head suddenly appeared

From a smaller hole in the ground,

Foraged, sniffed the cooling air then disappeared

Sheepishly without the merest sound…

Pete Ray

22nd May 2023

 

Sunday evening, around 8.45pm…

So annoying to be forced into a funnel, as the M42 was closed at Junction 5 and three crawling lanes were merging interminably slowly to exit there. 

I drove through Knowle and reached Temple Balsall with little hope of seeing any badgers at all.

I scattered some food for them but it was almost dark when two appeared, hence the poor light on the video clips.

The cub was close by and at least it was unfazed by my flash photo attempt…