Old Wardour Castle

By: Roger Hansford

 

                                                      a footstep on the spiral stair
                                               i join the fanning segments
                                   each riser identical, but perilous
                       at the last: step to infinity
 
           winds assault me in the
                              great glassless hall: lord
                                           with a licence to crenellate.
                                                                    real sky now shows
                                                                                    between vaultings.
                                                                    chinese ideograms, and
                                                        ‘blame US’ are etched in
                                          the civil war of lichen
 
               a capable circle of cedars
                               orbits the hexagonal ruin, the
                                                     mock-magma grotto
                                                                            and the lake. i step off
                                                                    the gyroscope of styles
                                                  not the first visitor
                                   to leave impressed