Stone Lions

At the dusty road’s divide
We took the left fork for a mile
To reach a black cast iron gate
And as the rusty hinges yawned
Through the trees we saw the path into the old estate
Stone lions alone can’t keep us out
While eagles and crows are sleeping
We followed the road open mouthed
We watched as the old place breathed its last
Yellow diggers in a row
Cough back into life and stretch
To gulp the dusty sunlight
Through the rafters through the brick
Chimneys fall and push the past
Out through the broken skylight
Stone lions in rows, rising up
In driveways and private gardens
Stone lions alone, guarding us
From gargoyles and long lost pardons
Stone eagles and crows flying off
To new and forgotten places
Stone lions alone staring out
Into our newborn faces
Stone gods creep across the terraces
Keystones and backstreet places
Dust, fossils, and mud perishes
Into our newborn faces