The Loch

The Loch

Did time stand still upon the shimmering waters

On that morning when the gulls did not scream

Where the brown wrack lay limp upon the shore

In a world that was captured in the dawn dream

The mist lay low and dense upon the salt sea

Hills hidden and paths known only to the stag

Criss crossed the ridge where the lynx slipped away

Whilst nestlings of the hawk shivered on a crag

Through the mist came the sound of a splash

Ripples spreading out from the touch of the oar

Sail lowered the helmsman stared out ahead

Seeking out a sandy bank to come ashore

A scraping of oak upon stone the moment arrived

Oars raised the men reached for sword and shield

To follow a trail where the smoke hung in the air

Where the clan lay sleeping their fate sealed

When the mist rose and the sun burned through

With bodies strewn across fields there had been no escape

Heather thatch still smouldered with the smell of death

Another village plundered and pillaged in a thirst for rape

The longship slipped quietly away the sail was raised

Their bloodied swords washed the waters turning red

In a world where the evil of greed had diseased the mind

They dreamed of Valhalla but became the undead

Copyright: David Hopcroft August 2024