Maru's Mun Journal

Pavement Stones
(ca. 1986)

This is the time when pavement stones
Won't be ripped out but put in.-

As I wander down the street,
My eyes on the pavement, my mind deep in thought,
The grey stones in swinging semicircles
Entice my foot to stride on.

Circling, dancing their silent pattern
They draw my glance away, ahead;
Their frozen rhythm fascinates me, and inspires
My mind, my foot, my heart.

When afterwards dead concrete begins again
I look back at the cobblestones, alive underfoot,
These stones, mild in the sun, darkened with rain or
Shining like jewels with frost.

There once was a man who paved this street.
Hours and hours he sweated over his labour,
Arranged the heavy stones as he though best,
Then looked back on his work with pride.


I was reminded of this just now as I was watching the building site orcs pave what used to be our first back courtyard with cobblestone paths.-

Closing of the Gates

There's no more point in opening the doors,
Folded back gates declaring working days;
Routines hang loose; the time is set no more
By his reliable and regulated ways.

Subtly, the huge black creature's trotting paws
Proclaimed the ceremonies every week and night;
Our ordinary lives all breathed around that core
On which our steps unquestioningly relied.

Still in the corners, chewed-on toys are left,
There are just two where there were two and one;
Tonight, the houses and the courtyards stand bereft,
Our soul, our lir, our secret lar is gone.


(Sorry, is cryptic, but refers to my post before this.)

Something I wrote at age twenty. I get reminded of it each year around this time.

( Awakening )