Two Ponds
ALAN LODGE 1
B
odies of water have always held a certain fascination amongst nature lovers, but the humble pond is often forgotten for larger, more impressive lakes and seas. However, ponds often offer a closer experience with the small animals and creatures that reside in it. Much shallower than most lakes, ponds can form naturally or be man-made. Due to their shallow depth, they often allow light to penetrate all the way to the bottom, allowing you to observe the flora and fauna in great detail. This gives ponds a unique charm that is rarely matched elsewhere in nature. Whether they be naturally occurring in a forest, or a back garden pond, these little delights should always be appreciated.
2
Words: Douglas R. Hill Carolyn Thomas Langston
3
My favourite spot is by the pond,
4
With woods by the side,
5
'Cause in the summer with colours bright,
6
Its' beauty we can't hide.
7
When the water's ruffled by the breeze,
8
And it laps upon the shore,
9
The sound is very soothing and it,
10
Makes me yearn for more.
11
Reflections on the water of the,
12
Trees are that of fire,
13
And when I look up to the trees,
14
Their beauty reaches higher.
15
The peacefulness that lies abound,
16
Upon the pond all o'er,
17
Has been there for many years,
18
And hope to be much more.
19
20
21
Just a whisper of the wind in the cool air,
22
While walking the countryside, so fair,
23
As winds blew leaves of silver and gold,
24
The old trees cracked, while standing,
25
So bright and bold.
26
I came to a pond, all clear and blue,
27
Ducks swimming, near water lilies through,
28
As I sit close to the water with fresh air all around,
29
The calmness was still, not even a sound.
30
I looked at my reflection, floating there,
31
With sunlight glowing around my face but no hair!
32
As water flowing over rocks hidden in the sand,
33
I felt the cool, as water rolled over my hand.
34
The country so green, flowers blooming astray,
35
The contentment feeling,
36
overwhelmed, as I walked away.
37
John Gossage’s book ‘The Pond’ was groundbreaking when first published in 1985. Consisting of photographs taken around a pond in an unkempt wooded area at the edge of a city. The photographs do not aspire to the “beauty” of classical landscapes in the tradition of Ansel Adams. Instead, they reveal a subtle vision of reality on the border between humankind and nature. This is an effort to express a ‘sense of place’, a favourite pond a spot within a loop of the river, quite close to the city.
38
Photographer covering social, political and environmental issues and actions. Work has been produced for publication, galleries, digital and slide projections at events and presented at large scale in public space. Moving beyond photography, he has experimented with mixed media involving printed text and projected imagery. A post-graduate of Nottingham Trent University with an MA degree in Photography, Lodge specialised in issues surrounding representation, presenting himself in print and audio-visual format. A member of the National Union of Journalists, he is a documentary photographer NUJ, a photojournalist and ‘storyteller’ always on the lookout to cover the different strands of related issues.
E: alan@alanlodge.co.uk W: http://alanlodge.uk Copyright © Alan Lodge 2019 Nottingham. UK
39
40