LIFE FORCE – ONE
When shadow turns to substance
In the still of morning’s birth,
Then once again I wonder
How much my life is worth.
Have I in the scheme of things
At last outlived my time?
I want to last a fair span yet,
To hope is not a crime.
I long to do a thousand things
I’ve not had time to do,
But is that just a selfish wish
I’m not entitled to?
So many of my friends have gone,
Lives past while mine’s still here.
Do I deserve more time on earth,
Or is my ending near?
Such morbid thoughts occur to me
More frequently each day.
I rush to pack more living in,
No halt, pause or delay.
Despite the limits on my life
My time is filled with actions.
Yet still my mind frets at the thought
Of those un-lived attractions.
Why am I selfishly intent
On hurtling to nirvana,
Grasping at each passing chance
More enhanced life to garner?
I could so quietly subside
Into a life of ease;
No rush, no great exigency
My daemons to appease.
Yet I am not content like that,
I must remain on course,
To stay with, in the time I’m left,
This imperative life force.
The two photographs were taken by me in London’s Roman Amphitheatre, which can be found in its restored state in the basement of the City of London Guildhall.
These Roman remains, thought to date to the 1st Century AD, were discovered when the Guildhall Art Gallery was being re-developed in 1985. The original structure could house over 7,000 spectators seated on tiered wooden benches in what would then have been the open air, where they watched the execution of criminals as well as fights, usually to the death, between wild animals and gladiators.
More can be discovered about these little-known remains of the Roman Londinium on the City of London website at:
London’s Roman Amphitheatre
Roland's Ragbag 