Poem: ‘Baucis & Philemon’
Michael Longley, 17 December 1992
In the Phrygian hills an oak tree grows beside a lime tree And a low wall encloses them. Not far away lies bogland. I have seen the spot myself. It should convince you – If you need to be convinced – that the power of heaven Is limitless, that whatever the gods desire gets done.
Where a drowned valley makes a sanctuary for water birds (Divers, coots), a whole community used to...