Mosaic (Poetry)
16th June 2014
Unearthed, this bold design so long preserved in darkness,
diligent the hands that brushed and scraped
small pieces matched and sorted, an antiquated puzzle
now rediscovered, jigsawed into shape.
Intricate and stylized, the images and culture
of a distant time, a foreign race and creed
laid down in ruined strata where once towers rose and fell
and history-seekers excavate and feed.
They’ve found a work of art that glorifies a lost religion —
a fantasy of creatures — myths and men —
a glimpse of those imagined worlds coloured in cool marble
where vanished gods loom powerful again.
And it conjures a rare vision, links the spirits of the past,
tells in pictures more than chiselled words can say —
old beliefs outlive the temple stones, since scattered far and wide,
still the everlasting deities hold sway.
diligent the hands that brushed and scraped
small pieces matched and sorted, an antiquated puzzle
now rediscovered, jigsawed into shape.
Intricate and stylized, the images and culture
of a distant time, a foreign race and creed
laid down in ruined strata where once towers rose and fell
and history-seekers excavate and feed.
They’ve found a work of art that glorifies a lost religion —
a fantasy of creatures — myths and men —
a glimpse of those imagined worlds coloured in cool marble
where vanished gods loom powerful again.
And it conjures a rare vision, links the spirits of the past,
tells in pictures more than chiselled words can say —
old beliefs outlive the temple stones, since scattered far and wide,
still the everlasting deities hold sway.