The Harris Museum
I.
I lean down
to touch
them
like
an
ancient
huntress
taste
not
blood
but paint
still follow
the trail
of red
(do I detect the hint of a limp?)
up the stone steps
past paintings
depicting
your hunting
like the Stations
of the Cross
(watercolours)
those old old hunters
we will know as the Dwellers
in the Water Country
semi-amphibious
blue-limbed
against
the green
of the fenlands
(it is 11,500BC)
bows drawn back
like the grins
of wolves
the madman
with the axe who
severed your tendons
before you limped on
dripping red
your pain
sucked up by
the sedge
the last
shudder of
your thick skin
not enjoyed by midges
at mid-winter
in a pool.
II.
On the
second floor
in the Discovery Gallery
where your skeleton stands
beyond hunting trophy
beyond Messiah
beyond icon
I pause for breath imagining
flints tips against ribs
heaving lungs
the loneliness
of your
heart.
III.
When I press
the red button that blasts
out your roar
the city trembles
breathes in and breathes out
the paddle of a dug-out canoe
splashing a reminder
of aurochs, deer,
wolf, elk…
*With thanks to the Harris Museum for the images.
The Sanctuary of Vindos 
this is wonderful
If you’re ever down Ipswich way, the museum there is well worth a visit, they have the biggest collection of taxidermy I ever saw, and displayed in the olde style Victorian cases (as well as some more interactive stuff) Sutton Hoo is down that way too but sadly when we were there is was closed for maintenance – great work Lorna, as ever – loved it!
Coincidentally… I am… I’m speaking on Gwyn at the Leaping Hare Conference in Colchester in March so will definitely add that to my list of things to do!
The Ancients of the World ….
In relation to this and the previous post I think of David Jones’ “what is done out on the tundra … under species of paint” (exact words probably misremembered) but the idea that we can imaginatively re-create such animals and their environment, not only portraying the hunt in cave art, but also in a modern museum, is a testament to the power of the imagination.
Interestingly I’ve just been listening to this recreation of the soundscape of Star Carr… https://soundcloud.com/jonhughes409/star-carr-sonic-horizons-rough it is interesting what a combination of research and imagination can bring about 🙂
Dear Penny,
Thank you for your interest in my blog. I have followed yours back, and look forward to reading more from you.
The story of the High Furlong Elk is fascinating. Your post reminds me of my feelings when confronted once by the skeleton of a cave bear in Paris.
Best regards,
Tim
TD Holt-Wilson
Wow… that’s an impressive skeleton… powerful poem too…
PS My name is Lorna not Penny 😉
“your hunting
like the Stations
of the Cross”
Wow!