Do you see the pyres
the sickening glow
the black fogs of smoke
where so many souls go
to the Summerlands
bright to merry meet
all the witch-trial dead
onetime maidensweet ?
And the Mother turns
and twists in her pain
wond'ring why this ring
must move round again;
how many must burn
while we stand weeping
for the lost wisdom
left in our keeping ?
Do you see the fires
do you feel the flow
of sacred life's ebb
on tides tomorrow;
do you feel the pain
and does your heart hold
This Time the lesson,
now ashes ... so cold ?
(On the Foot and Mouth disease slaughter
in the UK, March 2001)
