I AM THE FIELD
If any fellow metal detectorists out there have ever watched the brilliant television series ‘The Detectorists’, you will no doubt be familiar with the scene where Andy (Mackenzie Crook) finds a silver hawking whistle, and then Lance (Toby Jones) says to him ‘go on then’ and Andy blows the whistle. The field suddenly becomes a collage of scenes of the field's history spread over several centuries, with ghostly figures of those who had lived, worked, and died in that field. Well. I for one think that scene says everything about why we metal detect.
The words of the poem below came to me one day as I was humming the theme tune to myself and within half an hour ‘I am the field’ was born. Hope you like it
~ Pub??
I AM THE FIELD
I am and will forever be, the field
I have seen and felt the seasons
Ice and snow have covered me
I have felt the burn of the scorching sun and
storms have raged upon me
For I am the field.
I have been ploughed by horses, and
tractors have ripped into my soul and soil
Wheat and barley have grown upon me and
cattle have fed on my luscious grass and the bird
sing for me in the hedgerow.
Yes, I am the field
Over the centuries people have walked over me,
sowing reaping, loving, laughing
Some were born here, and I heard their first cry
Others have died when battles were fought upon me
Their life’s blood and tears seeping into my soil
I am that field.
Treasure and trash have fallen upon me and I have slowly
hidden them within
They lie waiting to surface again to tell their own story
to those who might listen
But I am the field and this is my story
I am a sentient life force
I have been here since creation began, living, dying and being
reborn time and time again
I am at one with my creator and I live to serve mankind.
For I am the field.
© Penny Vickers
