On Editing the Oxford Junior Dictionary - Susan Lamont

[Lawrence Robinson]

On Editing the Oxford Junior Dictionary


“A culture is no better than its woods.” – W.H. Auden

We went out to play.
We owned the afternoons.
      Remove acorn  buttercup  dandelion

spring’s pink lady’s slippers, the wood’s
dappled light in summer’s heat, autumn’s bittersweet
rampant at the margins, the silent intensity
of winter’s snow
      Remove heron  newt  otter

The playground swings are idle now, though
the climbing tree still stands, no children in its crown.
The woods, which once seemed to stretch forever,
just scar tissue on the disemboweled earth.
      Remove pasture  willow  fern

The woods, home to magical journeys,
gone, and children, in the glow of screens, dream
of other worlds than this one at their feet.
Kinship lost with the trees.
      Add MP3 player  committee  blog

Wild time lost, we are adrift. The ballast
of belonging thrown overboard.
All life moving into exile.
We are in renamed territory.
      Add bullet-point  celebrity  cut-and-paste



	- Susan Lamont
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