Poetry

---

Harlech of Wales


Rising at crumpled attention
On the crest of a craggy cliff
Harlech the sentry of cities
Scrapes the skies
Round turrets bulge like muscles
Along stone armored walls
Topped with slitted towers
Where arrows shot true

Entrance roof pocked
With murder holes where boiled oil
Scalded and scathed invaders
Deep dry moats defeated
Giant battering rams and
Elegant seige machines
Thick bulky walls stood sturdy
Against catapulted boulders

Harlech, hailed impregnable, impenetrable
Now stands helpless
Against hoards
Swarming, shouting,
Pointing and shooting
Alas, poor Harlech
You were not fortified
Against packaged tours.

by David Ian (c) 1984

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE