Master and Man

The gates refuse to open

And the grass is overgrown.

And mice and snakes and sparrows

Proudly occupy the throne.

Silent for many years now,

The gateway has never spoken.

For it holds a tragic secret

Though its will had long been broken.

I walked closer to the entrance,

And bent down to kiss the bracken.

But no sooner had I touched the earth,

Than the doors were flung wide open.

The winds were first to greet me

With their dank and putrid smell.

Eager to tell their story,

Of thirty years of hell.

“He looks like his grandfather.”

Said the Western Wind aloud.

The others nodded silently

And scattered away the clouds.

“We thought that you had left us.”

Gasped an old and tired voice.

“For years I played chess with death

But now I can rejoice.”

“I am the only one who’s left.

Forgive me, I cannot stand

So I may greet the master’s son

And return the keys to this wretched land.”

“My father was your father’s man,

And his ancestors were the same.

So now I will serve you until

God can have me tamed.”

“What is your name?” I asked the man

“Pulloo” he smiled and said.

“What happened here Pulloo?” Suddenly

His eyes were full of dread.

“When the new land was created,

Your grandpa moved away.

The army came with tanks and guns

Saying war had begun that day.”

“Your master is an enemy of the state,”

They said, “We want the treasury keys.

You must vacate the house tonight.

It’s government property.”

“That night they looted everything

And burnt the stables down.

They beat your father’s favourite horse.

His neighs were heard in town.”

“Three hundred years my father told me

Your family had lived here.

They lived like us, with us, for us

Defending the frontier.”

“But now look around and feel the pain

Of walls which once stood high.

They bow with age towards the ground

Pointing to where their masters lie.”

“So now you see young master.

Though we overcame the whites,

We were betrayed by our own blood.

We will never ever unite.”

The gates refuse to open

And the grass is overgrown.

And in the darkness silently,

I sit beside the throne.

(Master and Man is the title of one of Leo Tolstoy’s short stories.)