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Poem: The Castle on the Rock

(Scarborough Castle in North Yorkshire had stood for centuries, but was severely damaged by shells from German battleships in 1914 when the town was attacked from the sea and people were killed and property destroyed in an unprovoked incident.)


I can see it from my window.

‘The broken down castle,’
my granddaughter calls it.

It stands proudly on the headland,
a shell of its former self.

Once it was a defence
and a beacon,
a safe shelter for troops,
a vantage point
for observing the enemy’s approach.
There were weapons and soldiers,
a self-contained community,
ready for anything –
until it seemed
that there was no longer a need
for such things
and the community drifted
and the castle emptied.


Continues...

©Marjorie Dobson

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