
They are begging us, you see, in their wordless way,
To do something, to speak on their behalf
Or at least not to close the door again.
Lost people of Treblinka and Pompeii!
‘Save us, save us,’ they seem to say,
‘Let the god not abandon us
Who have come so far in darkness and in pain.
We too had our lives to live.
You with your light meter and relaxed itinerary,
Let not our naive labours have been in vain!’
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This is the final stanza of ten lines. The full poem may be found at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/92154/a-disused-shed-in-co-wexford
The “Web-throated, stalked like triffids” i,e, some type of mushroom remind me of the deep impression that Anthony Gormley’s clay figurines made upon me when I saw them, years ago at the St Ives Tate.
