2010
The eruption beneath Iceland’s Eyjafjallajoekull glacier began on March 10 and created an ash cloud that forced airspace closures across Northern Europe from April 15 to 20. I wrote this:
The day the planes stopped
Nothing, nothing to be heard
No, one every ninety seconds, flying overhead
The urgent nee-nars sound more strident
as they race down the road to the next emergency
The whole world thrown into chaos by the hand of God
No one is going anywhere by plane
Tweets cry bitterly for help
Strangers become life long friends on Facebook
in their bid to get home
… in time for work
… in time for school
In their bid to be somewhere else
… weddings
… even funerals
Time waits for no man
Few will profit, freight cannot move
The Kenyans cannot export their flowers and vegetables
lovingly grown for mighty Tesco
The airlines cannot fly
adding daily losses
to an overdrawn balance
Everyone knows someone caught up in the chaos
We long for normality
But will it ever be the same again?
Will Heathrow campaigners put their feet down
declaring enough is enough?
Will we willingly embrace older, outdated, slower
methods of transport?
Or will we continue to rush headlong into disaster?
Granny's adventures and musings 