by Julia Griffin

For Annette

“The Cotswolds are up in arms… because J D Vance may be spending his summer holiday there.”
—The Telegraph

The Vances’ Cotswold journey
Has sparked some spleen, all told.
They’re surly in North Cerney,
And Stow’s gone off the Wold;
All over Minchinhampton
Their thoughts are dark and harsh;
They’re feeling bruised and tramped on
At Moreton-in-the-Marsh.
How bitterly they glower,
Exuding scorn and chill,
In Nailsworth, Guiting Power,
And Bourton-on-the-Hill!
Though once, no doubt, hot pitch would
Be poised on every ledge
In Shipton-under-Wychwood
And Wotton-under-Edge,
Now Bourton-on-the-Water
Is relatively tame,
And surely neither Slaughter
Will justify its name.