The Temple and the Worm
Opportunity built a portico
for this reforming age: history
interpreted to make a Doric arch
a mark of England's passing into myth.
Pray for Bobby Stephenson's permission:
by his engines our inheritance is realised.
To re-set this proscenium in place,
to raise a replicated replica
with fluted pieces dredged-up from the Lea,
demands that plaster-paste nostalgia stick
though twice-removed already. See, though,
this new glassy view, these mirrored facets, edged
in sombre Grecian lines? The styling works!
Grandeur in the frame, the pounding music of the mall.
•
Twist,
slide,
slither.
Strung saliva,
tongue-to-tongue;
dwell young, love, kissed
in viscous
mouth
and mind,
pulsing slowly.
This translucent worm
will harden soon, scale and gristle,
break a growing wingéd stride
and bound; bear round and belch,
bold beauty! Rail when clipped
and set for toil - to pull us
through to Camden,
or to Birmingham - then coil
around; protect our finest pillars.
For guarding and connecting
our monuments, can we forgive
the beast a little temper?
© No Spinoza
2012
Euston calling with HS2