Wakehurst Place 31.7.22

 

Wakehurst Place

I head from Haywards Heath 

by car to Wakehurst Place

for a good stretch of

body, mind and spirit.

Sometimes in company, 

sometimes alone,

I tread around this garden

on an hour-long circuit.

A Tudor House presides

over this great park 

fronted by a pond

with ducks and geese.

Through wooded slopes,

with plants from round the world,

streams bear down 

to Westwood lake.

Wakehurst puts demands

upon its visitors 

to stretch their legs

on steep inclines, 

stretch their minds on

extraordinary plants

and stretch their spirits 

on Nature’s grandeur.

John Twisleton   31 July 2022