Ruins Remind Us

By D.S. Martin

---

What we do    rarely stays done
Not just laundry    & dishes
& the trimming of trees 

Rembrandts require restoration
castle ramparts crumble,    & scaffolds
arise    along cathedral walls

Remnants of Lamanai    & Tintern Abbey's
ruins remind us    nothing remains
forever

Even the sharp edges of Donne's poems
are weathered by years of linguistic shift
in how our ears receive them

Along the Grand Canal they hide
the repairs in progress    behind clever
screens    What we do    rarely stays done
​
Even our love    will need continual
renewal    to keep our precious ones warm
after we're gone

---

D.S. Martin is Poet-in-Residence at McMaster Divinity College, and Series Editor for the Poiema Poetry Series from Cascade Books. He has written five poetry collections including Angelicus (2021), Ampersand (2018) and Conspiracy of Light: Poems Inspired by the Legacy of C. S. Lewis (2013). He and his wife live in Brampton, Ontario; they have two adult sons.

D.S. Martin's other work on Foreshadow:
Beginning & Beginning (Poetry, April 2023)
Sweet Savour (Poetry, June 2023)