In 2018, The Friends of Horsham Park ran a poetry competition to celebrate our Year of Culture. The winning poem was displayed alongside works by our celebrated local poets—Percy Bysshe Shelley, Hilaire Belloc and Julia Donaldson—on a circle of tree-trunk seats near the park’s Station Road entrance.

And so, Poets’ Corner was born.

Over time, the elements naturally weathered several of the oak seats, and many of the poems faded. Yet this tranquil spot had become a popular gathering place and picnic spot.

Now, with the seats replaced by sustainably sourced elm roundels, we’re delighted to bring Poets’ Corner back to life. This time, the poems are not only displayed in the park but also reproduced here on our website, making them accessible to all—whether you visit in person or scan the QR code on site.

The displayed poems will change over time, but will always include works by our great Sussex poets alongside some of the finest contemporary writers.

The Lightning Struck Herd – Robin de Rosario

We rode out through high summer
meadows towards foothills and forest,
towards the lightning struck herd.
Flash mummified, barred
forever from putrefaction,
their sunlit grave was desiccated,
impeding earthly communion.

Slowing, the wrangler nodded at
their drum tight ribs, their rigid legs
their weatherproof permanence.
If you don’t like the weather in Wyoming
stick around for fifteen minutes.
The beating of our horses’ hooves
was smothered by the stillness
of the dead, their silent lowing
deafening.

Higher yet, the vista of rock and pines
was broader than the sky.
Brush reached up to tug at our boots,
the spirits of creatures reunited
with the soil dragging us down.
The momentum of our horses
freed us. With each release
the scent of sage reborn.