old stone walls

[Dave]

(rcycling an older poem)

Old Stone Walls in New Hampshire

Granate walls wend through oak and maple,
ironic vestiges of glacial forgetfulness,
stones repossessed for homes and grazing animals
inclined to wander like magentic north drawn from true.

All moving beings abandon the unmoving
like nomad settlers who lay down roots
in land cleared of rock and ancient ice fleets
then flee to cities industrial gaslight.

Declination from origin takes us inward,
rather than out, away rather than towards,
ignorant of the stars now clouded in the bright,
we assume ourselves a compass and are lost.

[Gyppo]

Dave,

This speaks to me of the near permanance of granite and other rocks, barring glacial rearrangement, volcanic upheaval, or human meddling.

But even more it underlines the essential dichotomy of human nature.  The way nomads feel an urge to settle, then grow dissatisfied with their fixed home and move on again, the lingering evidence of each move having destroyed a part of the essential wilderness where they really belong.  Then, as the world closes in around them, they lose their way and become the centre of their own universe, even if they still travel widely, a home within themselves which they can never truly leave.

Gyppo

[Dave]

Thanks Gyppo
Yes human nature is interesting indeed and hard to fathom sometimes.
Dave