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| ancient olive on the banks of Le Gard, Pont du Gard, Rhone France |
An ancient tree for one of the oldest days of the year.
An Ancient Tree
We could believe that your kind has waited here
since a footsore legionary, ordered in to carry cut stone,
ate his lunch of gravel-bread, boiled egg and olives,
in the manner of footsore legionaries,
spun seeds to the sun,
stretched out under a plank of scaffolding,
leaving the remains of lunch and resinous wine,
snoring fit to frighten the birds from the cliff-edge,
and summoned back to work the afternoon watch,
left lunch and stones for tourists to pluck over two thousand solstices later.
Poets will believe you descended from such legionary ancestors.
xx
1 comment:
Do you know how Roman soldiers treated their sore feet or any other foot injury. I do...and it works!
I have just come home from super market shopping in Double Bay where there is yet another plan by the council to destroy all of the old cottages and lush tropical vegetation to build yet another shopping mall. I could spit blood but I'm not because it's Christmas and I refuse to be upset at this time of the year...will save it for later.
Isn't it sad to think that there are so few of these ancient trees left?
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