Welcome to Greening Arundel’s Nature in Art: Art in Nature Poetry Trail, which has been produced in collaboration with local poetry groups, Swanbourne Poets and Chichester Stanza. The trail not only showcases the creative talent of local poets, but also highlights nature recovery initiatives undertaken by Green Team volunteers on behalf of Greening Arundel.
The poems are not organised in terms of theme, but it is intended that you stroll from site to site, enjoying the natural world around you, and the poems which arose from the poet’s thoughts in each space. There are poems conveying our green connection to Arundel; the natural world and what it gifts us; the human nurturing of wildflowers, biodiversity; the regeneration and resilience of nature. History makes an appearance too, with poems that reflect on Arundel in the Civil War, the emotional effect of World War 1 and how the River Arun symbolises the passing of time for us all. Finally, there are poems which explore our connection to Arundel as people and the memories it makes for us.
When the poets walked the trail, the universe was kind to us, the sun shone and nature was alive before our eyes. The poets followed their instinct to the space that spoke most to them: owls hunting by the River Arun; rooks circling at sunset; long grass whispering in the community orchard; bees buzzing in the Pollinators’ Garden; insects busy in bug hotels; wildflowers and nasturtiums rampaging through the herb beds on the quay.
We invite you to wander along the trail enjoying the poems and the beauty of nature. We hope that you may be stimulated, surprised and moved in equal measure by this initiative sponsored by the Your Station: Your Community Fund.
NaviLens codes can be scanned for each poem to hear the poets reading their work. This feature was added to enable people with sight loss to enjoy the Trail.
Click the links below to navigate to the audio page for each poem.
