Tumulus Poem by Michael Maxwell Steer

Today I fell upon my lover's body smelling hair,
my head resting against her mound
which gave off a delicious aroma of hay and fertility -
and thus, caught between God at the bright blue sky,
I celebrated the silent love all those who raised this wisdom.

Elevated on the earth's skin I see to all ages,
along the track so many used for so long as life's path.
Nourished by the wild grass, slowly I become invisible,
sinking into the soil as nutrient -
my immortality guaranteed by my anonymity.


28 July 1999