An Ode to Cake...

The foreword to my recently completed, second Wandle Trust charity cookbook.  That Erica (the poet) is a clever bird...

Heaving on ropes to lift mopeds

A Spring cleanup may cause some backache
But the soreness is always diminished
With a cup of hot coffee and cake!

During the river restoring

Sledge hammers fix many a stake
And when we are feeling exhausted
Then we are restored by the cake!

 In Summer we pull up Him. balsam

To the dumpsite in large bags we take
Tons of the stuff for composting
But we stop and we sample the cake!

There’s wildlife to see on the Wandle

A moorhen, a duck or a drake
If lucky we might see a heron
But we certainly get to see cake!

We use lots of tools when we’re working

A crowbar, a shovel, a rake
We expend lots of energy this way
So we raise sugar levels with cake!

Pennywort clearing in Autumn

Together in Ravensbury Park lake
We forget we’re all muddy and soggy
When we sit on the grass and eat cake!

At a cleanup in Winter it’s freezing

Half way through there is always a break
Hot soup and cheese scones taste good but
Body temperature rises with cake!

We love our days out on the Wandle

And the change to its future we make
But as well as the chance to improve it
The truth is we come to eat cake!

So thank you to Jo and to Sally

Who work hard in their kitchens to bake
All the recipes found in this cookbook
They’re delicious, especially the cake!

Erica Evans

Trustee and Community Cleanup Co-ordinator
November 2011