These ancient walls are vast, heraldic
creatures watch o’er me and yet
alone within one room I brood
solitary, dreaming of an age
lost to me
These steps are steeped in blood and time
The mischief of an age gone by
I was born too late for my soul
I am a creature of contradictions
Small within a vastness, yet
through brick and mortar I can find
a mimicry of the macrocosm
here in my tiny room
In some other life I am sure I walked these halls
Stately and acute, I watched the swift
and subtle movements of the court politic,
rich and sharp, a rapier of words,
and found in jest and intrigue
some semblance of bravery and chance
I look out across the empty courtyard
remembering in my imagination life and death
lived and lost before the frightened, excited
eyes of the court
Perhaps the axe falling on the lost or
the bustle of market and produce
beckoning life,
all combined like a pageantry
to the futility of ambition and power
Now in a modern age the light of ages
is both dulled and jarred by electricity
and still the cold is not a stranger
nor forbidden from these walls
It is as though the very foundations
ache as I do, for some past
which when lived was terrible
but in its memory lingers still;
a dream within a nightmare
within a dream
Take me back in my little room, let me
travel across time to the place where
these walls best belonged for there
in the darkness of the past
my soul may find true home and finally sleep.
(c) Helen Valentina 2013 All Rights Reserved
Inspired by the wonderful picture above which Ajaytao2010 kindly allowed me to reproduce with a poem I wrote, inspired by it. See more of Ajaytao’s wonderful imagery at http://ajaytao2010.wordpress.com
Hi there. I have nominated you for the Always there if you need me award. This is a no pressure award I just wanted you know that your blog inspires me http://solothefirst.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/a-beautiful-award/
Thanks so much my dear friend!!! 🙂 🙂
I’m descended from the Stanleys, Earls of Derby, whose ancestral seat is Lancaster Castle. Which, as it happens, is just up the road from me. Not that I’d want to live there. They turned it into a prison years ago.
A prison? Ah how time changes things!! 🙂
rich and chewy
Thanks so much!! 🙂 🙂
I have a castle fetish……shhhhhh don’t tell anyone. 🙂 Loved this and the picture!!
Thanks so much – yes the picture is amazing isn’t it – when Ajaytao posted it today it immediately struck me and he was kind enough to let me use it. 🙂
Excellent writing my dear Sis xxxx
Thank you Roxi!!! 🙂 🙂 hugggss xxx
It sounds like you miss the medieval era the way that I do. Sigh. Oh, I know it was a hard life, but so much simpler in many ways, don’t you think? I lived in Ireland, the last time! I love Ireland and Scotland so much because of that. Love the castle, love the prose. Very nice!
Thank you so much – the past seems so rich compared to the modern age!! 🙂
I think so too!
“I was born too late for my soul” loved this line, absolutely gorgeous Helen =)
Thank you!!! 🙂 🙂