Village Squire, 1977-10, Page 25feeling. Just by being there. like a listening woman, that piece of
land helped me a lot, to get used both to what had happened and
what was still to come. It was a long time anyway, before things
really began to change. Elections, governments, referendums,
that all takes time. The ashes did not settle on the meadow, at
any rate. Meanwhile there was a conversation going on among
all the people in the world, all the people on the sad earth that
was left to them. So, it took a few years before all the land was
surveyed and categorized. After that it was another while before
the bulldozer came and ripped the wall of trees that protected the
hidden meadow. I guess I didn't mind as much then as I do now.
I was younger and stronger, and Roger was closer to my mind.
We were all thinking about making things better, not about the
meadow. the richest of solitudes, the green young lady hidden
from all but me.
I suppose that strong young men have less use than boys and
old men for dreams. maybe because they're busy making dreams
come true. We did it because we knew that people needed tb be
fed and the hidden meadow could feed them. 1 still do believe
that. that we had to level things out. spend less here and more
there. and try to live together with the ashes and the left over
stench of past times. 1 believe that because I have to, and I
believe that the meadow agreed. For though, when the bulldozer
broke through her wall with a few nasty growls and shoves, she
was like a lady stripped of her fine green dress, or a wild horse
bridled. 1 think she agreed to the plan, and she fed people. With
the fallow fertility of years without cultivation, that particular
piece of earth still raises up more wheat or corn or soybeans than
any other piece of land on the farm or the whole township.
It's all for the best. though I still think of her, when I see
golden rod sticking up between red and purple petunias, the
beautiful wild among the tame. I remember her, the dark green
trees around her like a crown. I remember light falling like water
in the golden evening. and the air like the touch of a hand
moving the stream and the breeze. I remember the hidden
meadow sometimes. and when I do it's like a dream all over of a
flash of golden hooves. a wild horse tlying away with a aark
mane in the wind.
Well. that meadow's gone now. I guess more people are fed
now. 1 hate to think that she'll be forgotten. but she will. Though
she was a dream. and dreams get to be like bread and water and
blood. People have to dream. I guess that will be all right, people
dreaming of women and wild horses. and maybe sometimes of a
piece of land cut away from a bush with tall dark trees all around
it. and a stream running through. 11
with all
your
heart...
• Ae.J,S ere.1 ''dier^3r6.
Your gift to CARE helps needy people improve their lives by their own
efforts. It is their labour which builds a durable house, a school, a nutrition
centre, a safer water system. a farm -to -market road. Through CARE, you
can reach out to those who want to help themselves to learn how to grow
more food, plant more nutritious crops and make the best possible use of
what they produce. Your aid helps them achieve a better life with self-
respect and dignity in keeping with their traditions.
Sena your gift to -day to
t;AltE Canada Dept 4.1312 Bank St Ottawa K1S 5H7
BELLE'S
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•
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VILLAGE SQUIRE/OCTOBER 1977, 23.
7