STANDING STONES

The Duddo Stones is a stone circle in north Northumberland, about four miles from the Scottish border. They are thought to have been erected in the early Bronze Age, about 4,000 years ago.

Pilgrims to the standing stones at Duddo   

pause on the rutted track through

farmers’ fields of various greenings,

lost in the hugeness of

cloudswirl and softlight.

A crow caws, breaking the silence;

a flicker of greenfinch in the hedgerow

urges movement.

A walk of a mile and millennia

takes them to the five standing stones

crowning the highest point on the plain,

the watchful presence of Cheviot in the background

haloed in sheepspin,

Eildons and Lammermuirs limned in distant perspective.

Lichen spotted, runnelled scars softened

by time and weather, the stones bear

enigmatic witness to creators and purpose lost,

the never-ending procession of sun, moon, stars.

Shivering the grass, a rising breeze

has secrets to tell, but no language exists,

only a sense of wonder at the ruined majesty

of stones, still standing.

Paul Mein

Paul Mein was born and brought up in Newcastle, and has worked as a teacher, lecturer, and education inspector. He has published four poetry collections - In quiet places, The language of sands, Singularities, and Yem - a North East view. He is co-founder and artistic director of spoken word theatre company Far Horizon Voices, and currently poet in residence at Hauxley Wildlife Centre, near Amble.