The Merovingian Dead

(In Feburary, 1995, at the villiage of Souliac in the department of the Haute-Vienne in the region of the Limousin I saw some small stone caskets. My companion said they were recently discovered Merovingian tombs. The next day I saw a TV commercial exploiting Merovingian excavations.)

     In their tight stone beds,
          snug as cradles,
     The Merovingian dead sleep the sleep
       of the very dead.

     They have no names, no numbers.
     Their stone harbors are patterned with pagan signs,
       defying real redemption.

     Their lives are sealed forever
       in the honeycomb of my speculation.

     Their lives have extruded to the rough stone
       roughly cut by brawny kin.

     These venerable dead have done their bit, 
       strutted their strut
       upon the inclined stage,
     Paid their dues, 
     Earned this place in this arching church
       and in these thoughts.

---James Bolner, Sr.
Toulouse, February, 1995
Copyright © 1997 James Bolner, Sr.