The Treasures Of Old

• Tessa Cliff, Grade 11, Perth Modern Senior High School
• Poetry
• 2019

Finalist in the 'Inspired 2019' competition

The whispers of past, the treasures of old
Vibrant of colour and gilded with gold
Heroes and gods stand solemn, unsought
For thousands of years they faded from thought
The white marble statues of a time so long past
Lie broken and scattered, though once built to last
The scriptures of then give us hints of lives gone
But the secrets we’ve lost we’ll eternally mourn
The white marble pillars, the colour now lost
We now find not gardens, but rubble and moss
The houses have fallen among temples they left
Most riches and treasures have vanished through theft
The once mighty empires leave shadows of then
Just ghosts of the past of the times way back when
Though we’ve found whispers of stories long told
We’ll never know life in the ruins so cold