by Steve Tanham
Formidable, once:
Within this place was safety born
Exchanged for fealty, price of stones
That made these walls and saved your bones
⦿
Tracks in the sand:
The beach on which you walk your dog
Is wet where bishops splashed ashore
The highway of the sea a grateful, distant roar
⦿
Oak-panelled door:
Beneath which we pass in droves
A portal – then – to smells of meat and seat
For those who of this rank would proudly meet
⦿
But not for you nor I:
From simple huts of wood and earth
Our forebears gazed on castle keep
Unaware of centuries’ deadly creep
⦿
Tamed, exhibited now:
Its heavy stone enduring still
But only that; the purpose and the head are fled
To southern climes where power is better bred…
⦿
©️Stephen Tanham
Photo by author: Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland.
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Evocative and beautiful
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Thank you!
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A poem that makes you feel the solitude and the history.
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Thank you, Robbie and for the repost on Twitter
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