The Long Barrow

The great Long Barrow upon the hill

A place where time always stands so still

A patchwork of farmland lies all around

This is an ancient buriel ground

The Ancestors speak up from this place

It's a portal which defies time and space

An axis mundi of a time long gone

But this entrance to the World Tree still lives on and on

Just below the crest to the NW behind

Lies the source of the Kennet

Pure, clear and crystalline 

The Swallowhead Spring bubbles out from Mother Earth

Guarded by an elderly willow tree 

Branches split, trunk of great girth

All tied with clooties and hung with shells 

This place is still revered and respected well

And to the north Silbury Hill reaches to the sky

Trying to catch those stars of the Southern Cross

As they ceased to fly

For the Stars they were leaving, not moving as planned

And that for the Ancients  

They could not understand 

Why certain stars no longer showed

What did this mean and who would know

Then they got fed up and rolled big stones across

Time to think and guard against loss

They closed the Tomb's mouth

As the Cross dropped further south

The Barrow was used now in a different way

As The Elders pondered and worked out  their state of play

This would change the ways of The Clan

It might spell trouble for every child, woman and man

Observations went on for 1000's of years

And no doubt The Elders had a great many fears

For the stars and the planets showed 

When crops were ready to sow

If they failed or got it wrong how could The Clan grow?

They had to ensure the safety of The Tribe 

But if things changed, how would they survive

The Shamans entred within the tomb

This dark and man made Mother's Womb

They lit their fires, danced their dance

Sat very still then rocked in a trance

Faces moved upon the walls

As they drummed and made their keening calls

For answers they were to seek to find 

They would journey to the future and back down the time lines

Would they still be able to tend to their crops, provide for families, feed their flocks?

Or would the future of the human race be lost?

But as you know we are still here. 

We've survived for 5  millennia 

But we still live in fear

But those who remember, do still dance

We sing, we drum, we pray, we chant

Up at the Long Barrow upon the hill

To thank the Ancestors who visit there still

By Sarah Bard and Ovate