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Stand on the banks of the River Tees, and listen to the voices...'Erimus' is the town motto - 'we shall be&# Browse this Category | Browse this Author | Return Home Rating: N/A |
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The Ironmasters Derelict
The Ironmasters derelict
stand, creaking in a descant breeze,
twisted, gazing crazily at
stars.
A lone hooter sounds their cry.
This was their land. Now, they will rust,
as all do and must, whose iron hand
gripped tight and ripped the hearts from hills,
who bestrode the river. Hercules/
Colossus of Roads and Rails,
and the fleets of steel and steam
and sails that saw the world decays.
I move to turn away, and stop.
There are other voices in that hooter’s wail.
There is another tale.
The broken back
that failed beneath the weight of years,
was built from screaming vertebrae
of a thousand thousand others,
who gave their blood and sweat, and tears,
and broke their backs to bask in shadows
cast by mighty Hercules/Colossus,
who gave their bones to earth
to fill the empty hearts of hills
left vacant by the giant eating ore
and belching forth his steel.
The hooter fades.
Erimus, it seemed to say.
They have been.
I ride the waves away….
--George Selmer
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