The Ghost Atop the Hill
I wrote this one back in Fall 2023 after a I took my youngest to the playground. It was a breezy day and as I watching them play, I was taking in the surroundings. A sentiment I've heard from a lot of my elders in Vermont is "none of this used to be here!" I found myself wondering what the park/playground we were at might have looked like in generations prior. I thought about how change can be sad and something to mourn, but also something that brings hope and new opportunities to move past old mistakes.
From that, my thought process starting rhyming and a poem happened! I hope you enjoy.
Long I’ve stood in silent watch
Over these hallowed hills.
Gazing long with mindful eyes
Across these plains where I was killed.
A stalwart spirit keeping vigil
As the years stretch on and on.
No companion save the sun's bright set,
And the spring birds' chirping songs.
You might think it a lonely thing,
To linger on and e’er remain.
A fate reserved for the cursed damned;
The cruelest of fate’s pains.
Perhaps it was once, long ago-
This twist of the Spinners’ will.
But I’ve had the chance to see beyond,
The blood our blades once spilled.
My eerie eyes have watched the crows
Come and take their meal.
And then, in time, I watched the land
Return to green and heal.
The trenches that we dug were filled
By the mud of autumn’s rains.
The centuries erased all trace
Of our travesty and pain.
The world that was has passed away,
From all memory and all ken.
None now remain to recall
The prejudices of old men.
Instead I hum the whispered song,
Of the gentle morning breeze.
And watch the passage of the geese
As they flee the turning leaves.
Time cannot balm every wound,
Nor heal every fool-born error.
But I’ve seen it true that beauty new,
Can still grow in the wake of terror.
I died here once on this ancient hill,
With sword held high in hate.
Only can I now grasp the truth
Of my destiny and fate.
A silent witness to take drawn note,
And finally understand.
That life and love will always reign,
In spite of foolish men.