Hadrian’s Wall
At last I could
make it out
A narrow walkway
Rising from the
grasping earth
Loose and crumbled
stones
Tumbled from once-good
order
And straight
alignment
Random fallen
Among coarsest
tussocks
Of grass and mossy
ground
Out here on the stormswept
moor
Leagues from
civilisation
Amongst ice and
bitter cold
Lie lichen-covered
blocks
In faint traceable
patterns
Which snake and
wind their way
Across the louring
landscape
Here sits long-abandoned
evidence
Of mouldering ramparts,
towers, turrets
Interrupting the
regular line
And there a
garrison fortress
Perhaps provided simple
shelter
And some rough respite
Haven against adverse
weather
And painted barbarians
Invading from the
North
But is this all that’s
left?
So little sign
these days
Of the forbidding
Roman structure
Only the merest
thin grey line
Of no great height
Threading through
the frozen land
To be defended at
all costs
By shivering
Legionnaires
At the very end of
Empire
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