The Rocks of Lihou

The Rocks of Lihou stand in aged splendour.

Their lives span aeons gone and still to come.

For entertainment cosmic music orchestrated

By wind and gulls thrums on their inner ear.

For sensual pleasure Atlantic rollers pound them,

Salt spray refreshes every stony pore.

 

These rocks have life that one can feel, and

It is this strange life of time unknown to Man

That draws me to them like a magnet,

Quietly searching for that lost Eternity

We temporary humans find so hard to understand.

 

Here, with their slow growing and erosion

These rocks absorb the spirit of the land and sea and air.

Not only am I drawn to them, but –

           

            Wedged in a crevice high

            Embraced by arms of rock,

            Beside a spring that oozes tears,

            I press my cheek against

            Rough lichen growing there,

            Like the beard of some

            Strong, stony man –

 

I feel their yearning too for growth and understanding;

For individuality of a kind we hope to shed in reaching God.

 

The rocks of Lihou with their great age

Are yet in these terms young. They still are growing

Slowly, slowly to that point where inert matter

Fades so gently into life we too can recognize.

 

And so they draw me to them,

For they yearn for what I am.

And I in wayward searching

Find in them a landmark

On that long road which

Ends where life began. 

The Rocks of Lihou, Guernsey.