Roman Wall

ROMAN WALL Progress accelerates around us but still Like squirrels turning a treadmill Past and present are the same, it’s true, As the paralyzed Prufrock himself knew Superpowers come and go Talking of Michelangelo* My old school was built near a great wall and My cousins lived in a town nearby called Wallsend. The Roman Wall is in everyone’s blood in North England. The Romans built this wall ** two millennia ago Hoping it would frighten so Running a hundred miles coast-to-coast, Of heavily fortified frontiers in Europe, the most. Its bristling armistice line across Britain Designed to hold the barbarian threat in With the unchallengeable Roman legion. Ultimately : friendship between Roman and barbarian. The US buit a like wall fifty years ago Hoping it would frighten so Running a hundred miles coast-to-coast Of heavily fortified frontiers in the world, the most. Its bristling stance across Korea’s armistice line To warn the barbarian threat - a sign From the unchallengeable US legion. - But confrontation can’t last forever in the region. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. * References to the LOVE SONG OF J ALFRED PRUFROCK (T. S. Eliot) ** Built by Emperor Hadrian in 122 AD : the wall is also known as HADRIAN’S WALL