Nell Farrell
Dunstanburgh
Dunstanburgh Castle
chewed down to a coronet of bones
flung out along a headland;
a vast sea-ringed enclosure, large enough
to shelter a village fleeing a raid.
Lancaster built it, waiting out the King's rage.
Sheltered here until the distance and the waves
had washed his fingers clean of every drop.
And then again until the wind had blown them dry.
Only to discover how indelible
the blood of someone's lover really is.
Today the sheep guard, greet, inhabit.
They watch the sea through archways,
keep a wary eye to the North.
A single gorse bush pushes spikes of leaf
toward the sky. Its golden flowers fold
like pairs of hands gloved and at prayer.
Page(s) 19
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