SPIRITS OF AIR AND DARKNESS
SPIRITS of air and darkness, raven and dove, Move in the tangled forest and the fallen house ; Spirits of air and darkness, rook and pigeon, Rest in the hollow tree and broken roof.
These have not known the festival of flowers, The magnolia blossom and the ornate palazzo ; This blackened skeleton of a factory cannot speak Of its late owners, now on the Riviera.
Destruction sickening of destruction cannot die ; They have taken the light from the air, They have taken the leaf from the tree, They have taken the summer glitter from the slow water.
Down to the water's edge the week's washing Hangs among broken hoops and flowering nettles ; Under the lifted stone the woodlouse wriggles ; Someone has chalked " Hell " on the brick chapel, Over the curving air and the cold darkness • Spirits of earth and light, evil and good, Hover beside the slow river and the fallen tree, Defile the house of the dead, and make it fertile.
MICHAEL ROBERTS.
Previous page
