Did They Have Names?
“Here lies One whose Name was writ in Water.”
Was Solutrean man acquainted with
The leaf-shaped feel of love, the stylized form
Of flint-hard hatred? Or did the megalith
Of fear rule over all, as if a storm
Outside the lipless mouth parts of a cave
Forbade emotions other than itself?
What did Altamiran ochre strokes crave
When painting bison high beyond the shelf
Above the cavern’s nave when white stone Christ
And Virgin sculptures were not yet conceived,
No Torah nor Koran had yet enticed
Men’s souls to quail with guiltiness, aggrieved?
The fine-flaked implements and dark wall art
Refuse to know the early human heart.
Written February 12, 2011 in the garden of Keats’ house, Hampstead