Solar Farm, Sudbury
Two boys balance on a five-bar gate.
Ready for take-off, they lean into a field
where an alien crop has sprung up
among native hedgerows and trees –
row upon row of solar panels supplicate
southwards like deckchairs on a beach.
Behind the mirrors of photovoltaic cells,
an alchemy of light is taking place
and the air hums with electrons
releasing like a bottle losing its fizz.
One boy flings a stone, waits for a hit,
to see if stuff comes oozing out.
There’s nothing more than a tick-tick-tick
as the stone skitters, then falls
among dust-choked wildflowers and cables
Mark Done completed an MA in Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University in 2015. His work has appeared in two student anthologies and online at LeftLion, Nottingham’s culture magazine. He was awarded a merit in the Nottingham Open Poetry Competition 2014. Twitter: @markdone1.