The Torch Winter Edition
The Stones of Rome
BY KORI MCLANE
HISTORIAN
Walls once towered to lick the skies where ruins now lay ,
This , too , was once a city of cobbles and pillars .
The wood was burnt away to make bare these stone foundations ,
Pockmarked rocks that have seen the revolts and the battles .
Rome was not built in a day ,
Neither was it destroyed in one .
Centuries have buffed these stones rid of their crisp corners ,
And the steps of man have melted their surface ,
Kneading the rock into waves of speckled gray .
These time-worn arches hold memories of older days .
And as permanent structures crumble at the hands of men ,
Their words remain .
Graffiti marked into high nooks and invisible crannies ,
Writing from people long lived and long dead ,
yet their words spill across timelines into mine .
How privileged am I to witness their remains beyond the grave .
Cracked , crumbling , blistered , bruising ,
Ancient palms worn with care ,
Labored hours free columns from stone ,
Fleeting men grind them to dust on earth laid bare .
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