Peter Dent
Focus Germanus
I
‘We never saw him after
the last weird dim battle.
There was often need.
Salisbury, Bedcanford, Dyrham and Catraeth.’
Mild images, pale and out of focus
as the Camel slipped by black and glossy.
‘What shook us was how long it took him
for the healing of his wounds
and ours.’
II
The plateau curves.
Woods grip the four defensive rings
of ditch and bank.
Greenshade fastnesses.
Castelle to which he much resortid.
Moist turmoil of roots
that lock amphora sherd, bone slivers,
corroded metals flung from the camp.
Hooks of bluebell, nettle clumps
acquisitive for lost or left things,
nuggets of Cadbyri.
III
A hollow oak;
an isle of apples;
that cavity with its base
and lining of fine ashlar,
tidied by the reformation.
Places to look.
A grave there is for Mark, a grave for Gwythwr . . .
On the Tor,
a stone’s throw from the empty cairn,
one helmeted head
in blistered iron and bronze.
That slit Celtic mouth,
black sockets glaring.
Page(s) 25-26
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