Down by the river in the middle of the park
Fairies have been dancing, thought it has been dark.
Little folk, light folk, weaving out and in;
They look so pretty as they kick each other on the shin.
Tripping here, tripping there, doing this and that:
Tripping other fairies up and making them fall flat.
Merry folk, gay folk, dressed in greens and reds,
Breaking fairy bottles over other fairies’ heads.
Dancing up, dancing down, singing to themselves:
Singing all the army songs they know about the elves.
So, if you go into the park and down by the river,
Watch out for the fairies - they're enough to make you shiver!
In 1966, the Welsh village of Aberfan attained world wide publicity when a vast tip of colliery waste became unstable and slid downhill, engulfing several buildings including the local school. Over a hundred children and their teachers were killed. The following poem, which includes quotations from Robert Browning's The Pied Piper of Hamelin, was a protest against the practices which may have contributed to this disaster.
Call it not an act of God
That Wales now has its Hamelin town.
It was not faith that set that hill
Of damp destruction moving 'til
It brought disaster down.
Let no tears fall for those who went
Into a world beyond our ken,
But pray they found a Father's hand
Or were piper-led to a joyous land
When the dark mountain swallowed them.
But weep for those in Aberfan
Left alone against their will;
For homes where silence shouts aloud
And childish shoulders may be bowed
A double place to fill.
Weep, yes, but with an angry prayer
We'll not go limping as before,
Nor turn blind eyes,
Nor compromise
When comfort may be bought so dear;
So men shall say the sorrows of Aberfan
Bought a safer future for child and man;
And promising this; let us keep our promise!
