There’s another row of wooden sheds

Being built to look like houses

Upon the fields, in which I used to play

And I wonder, in the future, 

When my grandchildren are grown,

Will there be any grass within ten miles away?

Oh I know we need new housing,

For there’s a population boom

And that population has to live somewhere,

Because we’re a multi-cultural country,

In a multi-cultural world,

But it seems houses spring up daily, everywhere.

But not houses from our history,

When architecture ruled,

And they built a house to last a hundred years,

No! These are wooden structures,

That could be blown down by the wind,

And would bring any decent architect to tears.

I recall a neighbour from my childhood,

That kept rabbits in his yard,

And built hutches to protect them from the rain.

I hadn’t seen that kind of building

For many, many years,

But I pass a building site, and there they are again.

Now the developers will tell you

That they’re affordable to buy,

Whilst bricks and mortar cost too much to build,

But have you seen the prices

Of these so called luxury homes?

They were dear before and now they're dearer still.

More than a hundred thousand pounds,

For a building made of wood,

And a few facia bricks to make it look complete,

How can they justify that price,

For the two story garden sheds,

That are springing up on almost every British street.

Have the public lost heir senses?

Are they totally insane?

Do they not realise, they're being conned?

During the war, the Nazi's bombed us,

But our houses stood the test,

Now, a sturdy breeze and half the street is gone.

I'm sure the government will tell us,

That they're saving the Ozone,

Because they don't need so many plants to make the bricks,

They won't mention that the forests,

Of the world are near extinct.

Just so they can build new houses extra quick.

Now perhaps I'm just getting sceptical,

And obtuse in my old age,

But I think, new built houses should be built to last,

Not thrown up in a hurry,

In a field that's prone to floods,

That's not how we used to do it in the past.

Ok, maybe in the short term,

These garden sheds are cheap to build,

But bricks and mortar, last hundreds of years,

Can be passed on to ancestors,

Or maybe that's what they're trying to stop,

Probably not, but that's how it appears.

What other explanation,

Is there for going back in time,

And building houses like in 1666,

Let's hope they never have a fire,

The way they did back then,

Or all they'll have is a large, Chard pile of sticks.

By

S.E.Ralph

28-1-2022