Walls of M'Dena

Walls of M'Dena

A Poem by JohnL

 

WALLS OF M’DENA
 
 
While eternal lizards flit
 from shady borage onto sun-warmed stone,
    old men sit on ancient walls,
      watching history climb
        from the sunlit sea, up to the noble city.
 
Ancient man, Phoenician, Roman -,
 Saracen who laid the plan.
    Norman King , Knight of St John,
      Napoleon, his looting general
        thrown from these very walls.
 
The French in turn, drummed out by Nelson,
 who moved the city’s power toward the sea,
    causing it’s silence, until
      after beating back the Hun,
        Britain also left, leaving behind an infrastructure,
          and Malta at last to be her own,
 
But always, old men
 
sit
 
watchful
 
 
 upon the walls.
 
 
John L. Berry

© 2008 JohnL


Author's Note

JohnL
There is no motorised traffic in M'Dena. Approach to this walled city is via a small bridge-gate. The silence is wonderful. There is an ambience of history, there have been battles, but today - blissful peace.

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Added on June 3, 2008

Author

JohnL
JohnL

Wirral Peninsula, United Kingdom



About
I live in England, and love the English countryside, the music of Elgar and Holst which describes it so beautifully and the poetry of John Clare, the 'peasant poet' and Gerard Manley Hopkins, which d.. more..

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