Stone circle
The days are lengthening,
shadows of the stones at midday
shrinking to a pool.
Enigmatic and immovable, a well
of theories and wild suppositions
taunts our search for certainty:
moon time, sun time, sacrifice,
almanac for planting, feast and frenzied
orgy at each solstice celebration.
Through the ages hands have stroked
the surface of these megaliths, and fingers poked
into every dark inviting crevice;
but still the stones
turn their backs on idle gaze
to hide their meaning.
Even on the shortest night
mystery dances in the moonlight;
no hint, not even remnants of a rune
to indicate whether our prehistoric ancestors
celebrated late December or high June
as the pivot of the ever-turning year.
(first published in festo, Oversteps Books 2012)
Alwyn Marriage has published eight books, including four poetry collections. She is widely represented in magazines, anthologies and on-line. She’s been a university philosophy lecturer, Director of two international NGOs, an international Rockefeller Scholar and Editor of a journal; and is currently Managing Editor of Oversteps Books and a research fellow at Surrey University.
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