Benjamin Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 although the hall has lost a servants wing its function rooms still throng with wedding guests who pause to film and photograph a single day ensconced in affluence and weathered headstones of a dog's graveyard mark dates which coincide with past decades that ended with the family's tenure the stables now present an ice cream stop a fast food trap that lures its victims with inevitable smells of fish and chips fine weather brings brass bands and festivals coach trippers with guide books to wonder how exotic trees outlived victorians whose curiosity collected them and peak capped steam engine enthusiasts with homely wives in ragamuffin clothes gather-- oblivious to all except the hiss and belch of resurrected smog while by the yew-lined ornamental pond an old sundial roundly marks it all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger11 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I've been to that place...to those places...and will again...although I know where the money for the indulgence all came from! all the best Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcmarti1 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I could never QUITE grasp when Camus talked about "absurdity", till this: and weathered headstones of a dog's graveyard mark dates which coincide with past decades that ended with the family's tenure I don't know whether to pity or to hate the wedding party: a single day ensconced in affluence Damn, this thing makes so much social commentary.....I like it (the poem) because I hate what it uncovers (the truth). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 Thanks marti and Phil. All too often the past is mistakenly (even absurdly) romanticized... I love trees... and am not surprised at how the controversially named Wellingtonia Sequoiadendron came to be growing over a hundred feet tall in affluent English country park estates; along with African Oak... and the hardy Asian GInkco, (Maidenhair tree) some of which survived at close hand the blast at Hiroshima, and are still alive today. G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David W. Parsley Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Evocative, mixing bitter and sweet. I particularly like the subtly tendered closing symbol sequence starting with the yews, the boughs of which were traditionally gathered to lade coffins and other furnishings to honor the recently deceased. The ornamented pond bespeaks the last hold-out of opulence while inviting self reflection, while the unobtrusive sundial waits nearby as a reminder that this, too, shall pass. Nice! - Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Thanks Dave. Your review is much appreciated. The yew tree traditionally grew (and still does) in many English graveyards; its tenacity was also used to fashion the deadly longbows of historic fame. Cheers! G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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