we came in small boats with sows goats sheep for we are farmers our knowledge is of animals and seasons
we watch the cycles summer to winter watch the growth spring to autumn life to death
when our animals die their bones are left in open air it brings more scavengers more birds
when we die birds tear tissue from bone but the spirit remains until it is returned to the womb of the earth
seven thousand years my spirit still dwells here with seven thousand souls a temple carved in soil helical ceiling of stone
on the walls ochre spirals statuettes among the skeletons my figure lying head upon hand body at rest
they visit and sing the songs taught them so long ago they bring gifts of limestone and clay if only they knew how small we are our bones only half the story
hypogeum (pl. hypogea): Greek: hypo: under; gaia: earth, earth goddess The only known prehistoric underground temple in the world is found on Malta at Hal-Saflieni.
NOTES In 2013, I visited Malta. I had known about the Hypogeum for several decades and was very keen to visit. The Hypogeum is roughly 7,000 years old.
In a diary entry I made at the time, I wrote: We old ones lived with the land; we did not merely pass over it. They call our temples magnificent; they declare or calendars crude; they doubt that we women made the plans; that our bodies are the model of these structures; few see the mother–daughter designs; they deny us as so many generations have.
When I visited, it was not permissible to take photos. The image with this poem is a model of the underground temple and while it conveys nothing of the feeling of the place, it does give a sense of the structure and its rounded forms. In my poem, I try to give a sense of the feel of the place.
You can read other poems about Malta in my book Lupa and Lamb.
