sssshhh

[Benjamin]

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

[badger11]

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

[dcmarti1]

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).

[Benjamin]

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.

[David W. Parsley]

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

[Benjamin]

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.