The Great Wall

stone upon stone upon stone

upon mountains

of stone upon stone

assailed by mongrels

and monsoons,

by warriors, wind and wandering

standing still

stillness standing

in the village

each brick laid by hands

and heart to shelter

and save the spirit

of children protected

by labour from labour

the donkey lies at peace

as the dog, alert, patrols

the straw of his rest

out of love for the hooves

that never, that never…

into the valley of earth

the walls, the world, engulfing, embracing

the small lives of beasts

upon the earth, within

the earth, beyond the reach

of wind, the lash of cold, the fist

of heat

three old men as crevassed as

the dirt beneath their eroding bench

grin, not a tooth among them, and deny the chance

to have their image taken

away

from them

themselves

only themselves

together on the bench

in the sun

in the valley

in the clean dirt

of the earth

sustained

quiet now

the last steps up the hill alone past stages, acts,

theatre of man and woman and child

upon the snow crusted earth of the worn path

towards the old school

the partridge awakes, shocking the solitude

with thunder flight from this moment of earth

then

the ancient walls appear

earth and stone and school,

school no more,

though the chalk on the wall testifies

children once learned here,

learn here still,

that walls crumble and fall

fall down

in a world divided

by a great wall