The city of ancient days

The city of ancient days
touched the wall
History on my fingertips
It felt cold
Everywhere visions of the past
Young men and women
Holding hands, laughing, kissing
A dog urinates in a doorway
The river smells of time
The house without an inside
I saw the bones of a king green with envy of me
The stone worn smooth
The churches empty of spirit
Men repair the roof of rock in the rain
The emptiness of time filled with the buildings of the past
So one wrote a promise on the wall
Weather erased its message

The leaves were ready to fall
But were waiting for some event
They had painted the castle walls
I stood as if I were a lookout
Cry out cry out the warning
Playthings, toys of fathers whose great
Grandsons are now long gone and buried, still treasured

And treasure whose beauty fills a cold dark room
And rooms where voices and hearts share
The ambiance with food and drink and song
Songs of time and time for now
And now with knowledge of past
Past my insight into my soul
The soul of my fore fathers