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7 - Leafy

  There lies a place that shall be

  known as Leafy.

  Known to some as districts,

  Others as wards.

  But,

  on this sunrise of the

  first month of summer,

  It is,

  Was,

  And will always be Leafy.

  During school I was ferried in and

  out on a daily basis:

  Entering the Southern Edge,

  Occasionally going home via the

  artery roads North.

  Through two phases of work I saw

  its eastern boundary;

  The high canopied ridges that gave views

  to the towers that produced their own clouds.

  It's hard to say where the western

  bit begins:

  Although in two cases it is after a descent

  from hill crest to dell.

  Now, in a new phase,

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  I am taken back into Leafy.

  Its walls of glaze,

  stone, perennials and

  manicured hedges.

  Its emerald canopy plus the matching,

  living ceiling over

  the parks and golf courses;

  Where a squirrel can not only cross a dual

  carriageway;

  But reach the crest of School Hill without touching

  the ground.

  Yet despite these journeys,

  I do not think that this is the

  only Leafy.

  For on Week's End I rise through what

  could be another:

  Ascending then descending through an

  avenue of Planes.

  Whose pillars and canopies frame the sky in

  winter or summer;

  With views to the district centre I have visited

  more than any other,

  And the verse on the church noticeboard that

  provides food for thought.

  There is another route to the First Leafy.

  Via a climbing road beyond the place of

  Hunt's Cross.

  A long-held goal was to walk up this route

  into the tree-swathed hills,

  And buy a cake and a smoothie in the village

  on-top.

  Too far some say.

  You wouldn't get back in time say others.

  But, one late September day,

  When autumn had not truly got

  underway,

  A group of us walked up the Hill

  called Camp,

  Enjoyed the warm sun and

  sat on the warm grass,

  Took in the view of the cobalt mountains beyond

  two estuaries,

  Whilst I remembered that I was finally sat

  on the hill that I had long wanted to climb:

  Leafy.

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