Mudstone mosaics and jumbled fractures -
an uneven puzzle waiting;
holy stone with leper marks,
dotted and spotted black.
Ever expanding lichen rings
with double oil-spotted rainbow;
angular rust-like stains
Testing the presence of time.
Clenched into cracks
Of weathered rocks and broken messages;
scarlet snapdragons
trailing their cardinal stems.
Damp buttress of moss clinging,
Festooning the flint;
ink spots, stone measles,
proud thistle commanding the base.
Random yet structured,
closely inter-twined cobwebs
Fastened carefully
to parched and pocketed stones.
Chaotic yet ordered
toad-like grotesque within;
marking essences of
devoted and hidden faces.
Picture flints grinning
their caramel coffee smiles
amongst Anglian crags,
embracing their forgotten cousins.
Stephanie
To see the inspiration for this poem and hear it being narrated at the remains of the Leper Chapel, Dunwich, visit this page from our Chronicles of Greyfriars project website.