Sherry Ballou Hansen

A CAB TO STONEHENGE

On the great sweep of the Wiltshire downs It could have fit in the palm Of my hand, little Stonehenge, Perfect geometry rising from the ground. This temple to astronomy and ancient gods Was the work of stone-age man Who mapped the path of moon and sun, Sweated blood over sarsen stones And carved the lintels tongue and groove. Amidst burial mounds cattle graze In the wind, oblivious to trilithon Archways to the planets, blind To the mystery of blue stones From the Preseli Mountains in Wales. What do cattle know of the slaughter stone, Ashes and bones in the Aubrey holes Gone now in the cleansing, slanting rain? From the River Avon cave people marched Over the downs and Into the circle of stones. Today they speak When grass hums in the wind.   Sherry Hanson has published hundreds of articles in magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and on line publications, as well as a short story and almost seventy poems. She has earned seventy-two awards her fiction, nonfiction and poetry, including the first Council on National Literatures Poetry Award, in 1996, and the same award in 2001. She was a Writer's Digest Poetry Competition Finalist five times in 1999, 2000, 2001 and two awards in 2003. Her reading performances include the University of Southern Maine, the Potpourri Annual Awards Ceremony in Kansas City, Brunswick Area Arts and Cultural Alliance, Lincoln Arts Festival in Boothbay Harbor and Maine Media Women. She was the featured reader at Local 188 in Longfellow Square, Portland in October, 2003. Sherry teaches others how to get published through University of Maine System Continuing Education Program and various community Adult Education curricula.

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