Cutting Back the Bramble

 

 

The theme for this particular section of the session was ‘cutting something out’.  For no reason that I can fathom, the first thing that came into my mind was a clear memory of my Dad using his walking stick to hack away at long strands of bramble which were encroaching onto public footpaths.  I suppose really it is more of ‘cutting back’ than ‘cutting out’, but what’s a bit of semantics among friends?  Thinking about it now, I should have just supplied my Dad with a pair of secateurs – or perhaps that would not have been so much fun!

Cutting Back the Bramble

 

Thwack!

Out struck the cane, the staff, the walking stick with the curved handle.

My father’s big hand securely grasping the base of the curve.

Thwack, thwack.

Take that.

Cut it back, thwack it back.

Thwack the woody stem once, twice, thrice

Until it yields.

Cut, thwack, cut it back,

Clear the path.

Make way for walkers,

For pushchairs,

For bikes.

Cut back the spikes, the bramble, the leaf.

Thwack, thwack, cut back.

 

Janet Curtis

Image by Chris on Unsplash.com