In Memory of a Lost Garden and All that was Within It
by James Stevens Curl (September 2022)
Broken Urn in an Overgrown Garden, James Stevens Curl
You stood atop the broken stair,
aghast, beside a shattered urn,
with sunshine caught within your hair,
a question forming in your eyes,
upon a point of no return,
a bitter, final, wild surmise
that shimmered in the thinning air.
And so you turned, with final sigh,
through screening wall of yellow flowers,
disturbing petals passing by,
on beeswinged shards of yesteryear,
forgetful of the many hours
we shared, so far, and yet so near,
but never knew the reason why.
Professor James Stevens Curl is the author of many books, including The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture (with Susan Wilson, 2015, 2016), Making Dystopia: The Strange Rise and Survival of Architectural Barbarism (2018), and Freemasonry & the Enlightenment: Architecture, Symbols, & Influences (2022).
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7 Responses
Architecture, art and now poetry, it is always a pleasure to see and read Professor Curl’s work whether excoriating modernist architecture, painting beautifully observed watercolours and now a master of verse.
That was a beautiful poem, James, and I agree with Bob Lane on its mastery of the form. I would add (as I’m sure he would too) that your denunciations of modernism in “Dystopia” rise frequently to the level of fine poetry.
I am very much obliged to you both.
Thank you.
James
Arresting and moving, words and image.
very kind: thank you.
Beautiful words and image, reminding us of the wide cultutral sensibility that underpins Professor Curl’s writing and scholarship.
Very civil of you, Professor Prescott: I am deeply obliged to you.