Tunnelling Stonehenge

They want to build a tunnel under Stonehenge.

They say there’s too much traffic on the roads

leading to and from and around this monument

to mystery, this prehistoric wonder of the world

these sarsen stones standing thirteen feet high and

seven feet wide, constructed in the very spot

oriented toward the sunrise on summer solstice,

the longest day of the year. For over five thousand years

this sacred circle has reminded humans of the time-wheel,

the circular nature of life on this magical Earth.

Still, they’re proposing to build a highway under this

altar of bluestones and horizontal lintels

hauled by prehistoric engineeers from miles away.

They say — and we know it’s true — that

humans are polluting this sacred space

with noise and fumes from their cars and

buses, clogging the highways, tourists

desperate to witness this ancient marvel.

Druids, priests of the Sun, are grieving,

fearing this latest man-made disturbance

will stir up the ire of the ancestors we already

know are laid to rest under this circular bank.

Whoever wins this battle over history or progress,

over our right as humans to destroy the treasure

in order to view it: One thing seems certain:

the Sun will rise and set exactly as it always has,

on the longest day of the year, its rays bursting

into the center of Stonehenge on Summer Solstice.