The Stones of Grewelthorpe Moor

THE STONES OF GREWELTHORPE MOOR

There there were stones,
glacier-deposited on Grewelthorpe Moor,
stones shaped like door posts
too big for a man alone to move,
but for a group of men to move,
no monumental task.
It was a man from Kirby Malzeard
needed doorposts,
wanted the stones.
The other men had pledged him their help.
It was not the men of Grewelthorpe
who needed the stones.
The stones that were there
were their stones.
No other needful men could have
what they, one day, might need.
The stones stayed,
were not removed from the moor.
Doorposts were quarried elsewhere,
machined and transported.
The stones were never used.
They lie there now,
shaped by the wind -
weathered monuments
to the men of Grewelthorpe's greed.

© GERALD ENGLAND.

Composed: Sheffield, 14th April 1974

Publication

1984 The Old Police Station (UK)