Wait

Hadrian's Wall

-70Hadrian ’s Wall The pool, we built together, or rather, watched the earth move. A red mount rose as the hole was dug and emptied. The neighbor children climbed and slid. We let them. And we were lazy. We dug already-eaten earth, a basement cave; the pool floor kept collapsing into a gap beneath where roots hid, clung and cursed. I drew out stones like giant teeth. In Rome, work started in the east on a stone wall, a rock vein, running clear to the River Irthing.West, the wall was sod at first, a hair ridge, a sign. Later, slaves built strongholds every Roman mile to seal its ends, to draw a line. How could we know this space for what it was—a cellar, hum of mud and fruit? The stones piled for our garden walls. Our water came from an unknown place. Hadrian wept to watch his lover Antinous drown, would not be moved from Egypt.The gods lure the ones they want from water. You would only wade so far, till cold or wetness reached your knees—I don’t know which one it was.These nights I dream of underneath.You’re seasonal; you’re staying only to collect your things.This wall that we will never see—I will wait for you. I will wait for you there. -71- ...