Flip, flap, flop....

Hand in hand they dance in a row
Hither and thither, and to and fro,
Flip, Flap, Flop! and away they go - 
Flutt'ring creatures as white as snow,
Like restive horses they caper and prance;
Like fairy-tale witches they wildly dance;
Rounded in front, but hollow behind,
They shiver and skip in the merry March September wind.
One I saw dancing excitedly,
Struggling so wildly till she was free,
Then, leaving pegs and clothes-line behind her,
She flew like a bird, and no-one can find her.
I saw her gleam, like a sail in the sun,
Flipping and flapping and flopping for fun.
Nobody knows where she now can be,
Hid in a ditch, or drowned in the sea.
She was my handkerchief not long ago,
But she'll never come back to my pocket, I know.
Charlotte Druitt Cole


A trip up to Haworth to see a customer this aft, and on return I passed this clothes line in a grassy field, by the main road in Cullingworth, opposite a row of terraced houses.  I've been entranced by its flapping before but today I couldn't resist those stripy tea towels - and don't you just love the 'dolly pegs'?