Columbia's Prothesis

Poemata LXVIII

"When young," she said, 
      "The gifts came free
          And sacrifice aplenty
The hills adorned
      With barrows tall
          And the graves were many
Blood like wine
      Was poured out there
           With joy and grief amingled
Each came forth
      To lift them up
            And so my house was shingled;"

"But now," she said,
      "A fire burns
           But no-one stokes the coals
I must get up
      And fetch the pot
           And worry all men's souls
With demands
      And reprimands
           As every seeks his own
To inspire?
      I shiver here
           In my house of stone."

"But soon," she said,
      "The men will come
           To take me there as well
At the door! 
      A footfall there
           But listen just a spell--
When she's young
      A nation can
           Sacrifice inspire 
But when old,
      To end the cold?
          a symposium of fire."