Stone-Age Stones
A poem by Michael Hawkes
Amidst animal. Vegetable and mineral,
When mountain peaks were thrones,
Where bodies, ‘though ephemeral
Were not mere flesh and bones,
Man elevated ancestors
On piles of lesser stones.
Thus temples were erected
In memory of the dead
Where gem-stones were rejected,
All ornament neglected,
Where rough hewn rocks connected
To the basalt overhead.
Such monumental structures stand,
Some capstones still in place,
As sentinels across the land,
As guardians of time and space
That one fine day a future race
May come to understand.
Far off in the mists of time,
As the universe expands,
Beyond the end of man’s decline,
With Gaia yet in firm command,
These ancestors of yours and mine
Will be blown dust and dunes of sand.
28/7/21 – Hawkes
Feature image: garethwiscombe, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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[/col][col size=”10″]Michael Hawkes was a cherished poet and contributor whose work enriched the pages of WestmountMag.ca with its sensitivity and depth. Over the years, he entrusted us with a rich body of poems, of which only a portion has yet been published. His passing leaves a profound void, but the poems still to come will continue inspire all who were moved by his voice.[/col][/row]