MAYDAY

A Dovecote at a Medieval Manor House Ruin in Oxfordshire
by Stephen Gibson

Contributed By:

 

Two workers were repairing it the day we visited—

one worker passing thatch to one on a ladder;

our friend Judy, a photographer, said

this was a favorite place for her:

the dovecote once bred

 

pigeons and doves for the dinner table: chambers

inside—when the manor house was inhabited—

filled with squabs and bird mating-pairs.

What happened?  Why had it ended?

The two workers repairing

 

the dovecote now weren’t doing this for some heirs—

but a heritage foundation: all of the heirs were dead.

Judy took a photo of my wife, me, and her

with the two workers.

 

Filed Under: Poetry

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