Cae’r Blaidd or ‘field of the wolf’.

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Cae’r Blaidd or ‘field of the wolf’.

 

The last wolf died in this place

but the hour of the wolf remains

and the wolves call for us, call for you

calling haunting us with their calling

calling for us over and over again

 

It is the time when we cross over

as some people say of the passing away

in the early hours when coldness

an imperceptible drop in temperature

loosens our will, loosens our grip on life

and the wolf crosses with us too

it has nowhere else to go after all.

 

A time we no longer speak of

the easing of souls young and old

the hour of the wolf remains taboo.

 

It is a way with our family at this time

that we sit in vigil, a candle burning

talk of remembrance, of memories

of life and the sadness of leaving.

But whatever we say the wolf remains

at the door until our time comes too.

 

And the wolf patiently waits for the hour,

waits at the door to call as it must do.

 

 

Published in The Learned Pig 2017

©robcullencelfypridd19

Times return

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.

 

Pastor Martin Niemoller

Who is Liu Xia?

Who is Liu Xia?

 

I live like a plant in the day

With no voice and no human interaction

Or like a corpse at night…

 

I curl into a ball

As somebody knocks at the door

My neck starts to stiffen

But I cannot leave…

 

I speak to myself too solitary

I have not the right to speak, to speak loudly!

I live like a plant

I lie like a corpse!

 

 

Rob Cullen: Apologies for a poor rendition of Liu Xia’s poem.