Pack The Hall To The Rafters
by Robert Macfarlane
What time does the class on memory start? Can you tell me?
I don’t want to be late, because I want to remember ––
When yellow ducks could not swim through the glacier;
When the river was alive and silver as an eel;
When the beech trees had not begun their long walk north;
When soil did not speak in the stars of drought.
So can you show me how to tell the time? How?
Now. The class starts now.
But the clouds are the teachers,
And the seeds, the rain, the air ––
So make more room at the back there,
Pack the hall to the rafters, creatures.
