Photography: Badgers by Jane Lovell
“Badgers are ancient magical beasts. They live in the same setts for hundreds of years as if they are themselves part of the Earth, part of its hidden depths. Seeing them like this was just incredible. To me, they embody wildness, fierce independence and the ultimate resilience of nature. We should leave them alone.” Jane Lovell
The front end of a badger
has halted in its crawl
towards the verge,
spilt bag of rotted fruits,
bittersweet, hypericum;
his carpety fur
someone needs to fold
and hem
before the crows come
stealing beakfuls of tat.
Gone the big grey stroll
and swagger;
in planetary wilderness
he wanders, trawling
scattered light for meaning.
There is grit in his fur,
past worlds in his bones,
earth-smell, sweet and cold
of slug and snail
carrying him deeper
and deeper away from
the roar of lights, the black
shriek that felled him.
By evening, someone
with a shovel moves him,
slings him off
into the hedge
and there he rests,
reluctant warrior,
teeth bared through leaves
of bryony and sorrel,
his fixed eye watching
for worm and grub
and beetle, burrowing up
to claim him.
Jane Lovell
Jane Lovell is an award-winning British poet, writer and photographer, whose work explores our relationship with the planet and its wildlife. She has won several international awards including the Ginkgo Prize, the Rialto Nature & Place Poetry Competition, the Flambard Prize and the Silver Wyvern. Her latest collection, On Earth, as it is, was published by Hazel Press at the end of 2023.
Jane also writes for Dark Mountain, Elementum Journal and Photographers Against Wildlife Crime. She lives in North Devon on the edge of the Valley of Rocks.
More information about Jane can be found at
https://janelovellpoetry.co.uk.
More information about what you can do to help badgers can be found at
https://www.badgertrust.org.uk/
.