Stella M. Turk MBE
Bamboos are evergreen
Adding beauty to any scene.
Some are always very small:
Others are exceptionally tall*.
They are true grasses just like corn,
Reeds and the green of every lawn,
But with stems both woody and hard
That can be very delicately carved.
In an Indian state in the north-east
Bamboo** seeds give rats a big feast
So they grow very quickly and then breed
On this nutritious and plentiful seed.
They then compete for the rice and maize
That the forest people are trying to raise.
Desperate attempts made to arrest
The ravages of this ravenous pest
That swarms and then prodigiously breeds
Every 48 years when the bamboo seeds,
The rats bring desperation and frustration
To the devastated local human population.
*Bamboo can reach heights of 30-35 metres with an occasional specimen of over 40 metres.
*This the Black Rattus rattus . Rigorous conditions at our ports prevent it re-colonising the British isles.
In a talk given on BBC World Service on 31 10 2008,it was suggested that (ironically) the ‘slash and burn’ methods used by these people when they destroy the forest to grow their crops, encourages the bamboos.
Stella M Turk MBE