Some selected words..

For the uninitiated, John Seymour is widely considered to be one of the founders of the self-sufficiency movement. From the mid 1950s he lived with his wife and four children, supporting themselves on five acres of land. A prolific author, his books became a tremendous practical resource for the intentional communities and 'back-to-the-land' movement of the 60s and 70s.

Here are a couple of his poems. The first I had read somewhere and decided would be great for Issue 4 of our newsletter. The second I found while trying to locate the first on the Internet.

You Snivelling Clerks
Lines to my son on hearing that he has been told to destroy his house.

What sort of law is this - what monstrous "law"
That makes a man demolish the house he built
With love on his own land?

The robin and the wren, the skylark too
Have leave to build, and love, and rear their young
In any trees, on ground, or where they will
Without the by-your-leave of chartered fools.

But you my son, and dear Maria too,
Albert and Rose, who love your little house
Must raze, pull down and totally destroy
The little house you built on your land:
Destroy the lares et penantes of a home.

This home of yours, my Dai, that must be razed
Will raise itself a cry that shall be heard
Across our land! Your home will be destroyed
To satisfy the whims of city fools,
The motor'd hordes that spew across our land.

The razing of your home will raze, my boy,
The wicked laws that caused it to be razed
For we shall do some razing of our own.

We'll raze these rules - and sack these men
And get a true law passed to save our land
From second-homers, speculators - those
Who look upon the sacred soul of Wales
As something to cash in on, to defile,
And give the right to any honest man
To build his own house on the land he owns.

Here's what John has to say about the next poem...

“I have been entrusted with transcribing verses by various animals of late years (animals cannot write you see), but the other day all the animals asked me to transcribe the enclosed verses. Maybe there is something in what they say!”

The animals talk back to mankind
When you have poisoned the air
And when you have swept the seas bare
When the woods where we roam
And have long made our home
You’ve destroyed so they’re no longer there ...

And when you’ve eroded the soil
And the last whale has been turned into oil
By the bold Japanese
And the tireless Chinese
Have put the last tiger to boil

For the soup which they think makes ‘em randy
When at loving they’re not very handy,
And rhinoceros horn
They find better than porn
More effective than whisky or brandy

When the last duck has been shot from the sky
And the last goose has been sentenced to die
The last swamp has been drained
Where the waterfowl reigned
The last pigeon been turned into pie

The last elephant driven to death
The last hippo has drawn her last breath
The last free-flying fowl,
The last hawk, the last owl,
The last lizard or snake of the heath

When you’ve ransacked the Earth in your greed
And smothered us all with your seed
So of Life we’re bereft
You’re the only ones left
To whom will you turn in your need?

When the Angel of Death beats his drum
And an Archangel reads out the sum
Of all your misdeeds
You’ll soon find where it leads
You’ll discover that your turn has come!