Passage
Space solidified
through centuries of order:
directing feet, defining
purpose, shaping mind-set.
Scouring a labyrinth
of cobwebbed brick and
blunt corners we find,
among the ancient alleyways,
the oft-trod offbeat snicket
called Nether Hornpot Lane.
Crack-paved path
between patched-up walls
of uninspired graffiti.
No scraping rasp, no jag of saw,
no stench of stewing keratin;
nothing to unmask the past
beyond a guidebook footnote.
The fascination’s in
a grasp at memory of
something lost along the way.
Nether Hornpot Lane is the site of medieval horn working in York. Excavations uncovered hearths and a pit containing 200 cattle and goat horns.