Brutally blasted
From the granite hillside these old stones
Once naked and vulnerable
Now kindly clad
In Nature’s green velvet coat

Where once
Brightly coloured bulldozers and clanking cranes
Jostled for centre stage
Now an arena
Of scattered fallen rocks
Evidence of a battle fought and won

Now we
The intruders enter the arena
And wonder at what has gone before
Silence is broken
We clamber over the ancient stones
And tangled undergrowth
To discover the chosen stone

Then the decision
Do we disturb this chosen one
And raise it up to be
A standing stone
Undecided
We leave the sleeping giant

Reverently
We walk away allowing Nature
To continue her silent healing
To turn this gash in the landscape
Into an earthly Paradise.

Pauline MacDonald