Castles

Castles

Those Medieval horrors

May they all in ruins lie

And when their ancient flags

Fly against the azure sky

Emblazoned enmities

Of ancient powers flapping,

May they not stir the heart

Of those who see them now.

~

May the tower's stones be robbed,

Chiselled, smoothed, reworked until

They forget the broken bodies

Of the starved and tortured

Whom they once entombed

And when reshaped, be piled up instead

To make new homes, warm wombs of love.

South-West France has many chateaux, bastides and fortified churches constructed during medieval wars, notably the Hundred Years War, when, at various times, the countryside was laid waste by roving mercenary bands and said to be largely deserted. This poem, which re-appeared recently during a clear out of my study, was written about twenty years ago and inspired by the Chateau of Castelnaud.