and these the hours
some empty, some content, some conflicted
when a little technical help might be appreciated
where is John Gater when you need him?
you'll know for yourselves, no doubt
those moments when clarity of thought
eludes you
emotional states remain vague
harder to locate
and pin down - specifically
you need a geo-phys
- when nothing satisfies
you need a geo-phys
- despondent for no apparent reason
you need a geo-phys
- why am I bored?
you need a geo-phys
- not sure what to do next
you need a geo-phys
- when everything just feels way too much
anyone would need
a bit of geo-phys
just a quick scan, to sweep the strata
below the top soil
not a whole complex of fields
we're not looking to find a lost village
or a completely hidden Roman villa here
merely to understand the concealed terrain beneath
this swampy surface clay, the ring pulls, coins
and shattered bric a brac
Mr Gater indeed would scratch his head
after several exasperating hours of work
walking up and down, like a lonely plowman with a headache
to produces geo-phys with - no discernible walls,
- no medieval ditches - no bronze age round houses
not even the sniff of a ruin
nothing to be seen
but a whole load of static, uniform grey scale in texture,
after several exasperating hours of work
walking up and down, like a lonely plowman with a headache
to produces geo-phys with - no discernible walls,
- no medieval ditches - no bronze age round houses
not even the sniff of a ruin
nothing to be seen
but a whole load of static, uniform grey scale in texture,
Dr John might say -
'there could be a vague suggestion of a waste pit here,'
( a desultory finger gestures )
'but I wouldn't put money on it'
he'll sweat and whimper, attempt a lame excuse
then go off and cry onto his beer
over the unsympathetic nature
of the underlying geology, yet
exploratory trenches and test pits
are a bit random, without your geo - phys
your ground penetrating radar,
your electromagnetic conductivity meter
without them
I'm thinking tails on donkeys here,
for there is a need to know
exactly where best to dig
'but I wouldn't put money on it'
he'll sweat and whimper, attempt a lame excuse
then go off and cry onto his beer
over the unsympathetic nature
of the underlying geology, yet
exploratory trenches and test pits
are a bit random, without your geo - phys
your ground penetrating radar,
your electromagnetic conductivity meter
without them
I'm thinking tails on donkeys here,
for there is a need to know
exactly where best to dig
Oh, yes, these metaphors
they just keep on coming
a gift to the blind poet
mining an archaeological technique
for psychological resonances
emotional resistances, obstacles,
boundaries and foundations
which, put in layman's terms
amount simply
to what lies beneath
the sodden sodding skin
however carefully manicured
ones psychology
maybe, the merest echo
of a robbed out buttress
where three stones in a row
constitute a wall, all these
require in depth analysis
an informed conjecture
for an explanation to be found
for when they were built
for how they were built?
for who built them?
and for why?
they just keep on coming
a gift to the blind poet
mining an archaeological technique
for psychological resonances
emotional resistances, obstacles,
boundaries and foundations
which, put in layman's terms
amount simply
to what lies beneath
the sodden sodding skin
however carefully manicured
ones psychology
maybe, the merest echo
of a robbed out buttress
where three stones in a row
constitute a wall, all these
require in depth analysis
an informed conjecture
for an explanation to be found
for when they were built
for how they were built?
for who built them?
and for why?
written April 2021
Stephen Lumb
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