Past the church

and down the lane

into the field of grass and stone.

Under the white sky

and the dark earth

lie the foundations

yellowed and brittle

without a gravestone.

 

Bare trees just as old

memories of stone and timber

children herded sheep,

pigs roamed in the mud,

and women washed

too close to the flea-ridden rats

hidden in the shadows

by the shallow stream

that runs along the edge.