Rochelle’s challenge this week is prompted by this intriguing photo. Set me thinking about the decline of things, and set me looking for a piece I wrote a few years ago, inspired by a trip to Sicily.
Human Endeavour
We see the broken stones of the past
remnants of power, now strewn on arid soil, faiths of centuries pass.
We stop to wonder at these fragments. Are we like them ?
Invisible roots reach deep into the red earth of our shared origins
our foundations.
Conquerors came — Phoenicians, Greeks, Goths, Arabs, Byzantines, Normans —
such flowering of artistry and power. Square tombs, huge temples, sacrificial altars,
mosaic story-boards alive with movement.
See how the conquerors became the conquered.
We yearn to belong
Boasting our supremacy
Then return to dust.