Coniston Peace
Jason Palmer
Outside an inn, one sits, with half a cider but
Feels full of Coniston peace
The lake, the duck riding the shore wave for fun, the sun glinting
The coffee and shower
Of a new b&b at mid day
The rushing idyllic river under the bridge
A warm inn with wood beams
These are the things a day should fill
Not the desk, the PC, the email.
Oh if we had heard Ruskin and neglected
MISTER Adam Smith
What an England we could have made
Can a middle way exist?
Is it one or the other?
Is it a nation of the TV minded workers?
Verses simple pleasures?
Did we pay too higher a price for a high pile of pins
Made in a day
Coniston Water is one of the biggest lakes in the Lake District.
The Victorian artist and thinker, John Ruskin, who is mentioned in the poem, lived beside the lake for many years and is buried in the village of Coniston.
The great poet of the lakes, William Wordsworth has also written about Coniston.
Main Location:
Coniston Water, Lake District, Cumbria, England
Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0