M - Warning

If you meet a figure
from the past
for heaven's sake
don't touch him.

Across the ploughlands
whole altered landscape
Grace and symmetry
Cottages, houses
Three hobbled horses
A wooded copse
the long arm of the sea.

I stood and stared,
lantern-jawed and ruddy,
framed in black hair.
This was reality.
Make contact with living flesh -
the link breaks.