That Which Was Lost

[poliphilo]

Remember how I lost my Roman ring? I'm not sure I wrote about it at the time- too upsetting, but I certainly wrote about buying a couple of replacements on eBay. 

Well, anyway- I was raking in the back yard just now and - chingle, chingle- there it was. 

Thank you, thank you, lares et penates.

And here to celebrate is a poem I wrote back in the day about the Roman city of Isurium Brigantum (Aldborough)

ALDBOROUGH

They've got an image of Mercury
In the village church. Though it's weather-worn,
If the light falls right you can just make out
His horns and his staff. The Roman town
Was a bustling place. It had walls this thick
And a governor's palace. It's only been dug for
Randomly. A man lifting tubers
Hits on a pavement. A coin and a brooch
Are spotted among her alyssum
By a woman weeding. Two fine mosaics
Are shown in situ in two little houses
Built to their measure- which made me think
Of the three little pigs and the big, bad wolf;
He huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down-
Twice, not thrice. In the heritage shop
I bought this torc which I'm wearing now
For the ancestors. It cost me a quid
And the gilt wore off in a couple of days.
It feels like a watch- every once in a while
I'll glance down at it to check the time.