Empty gates have other charms

Too many gardens spent
Under this sky where they grew what's left is whispers,
Gone to seed to late to burrow deep - so gone now to memory,
Down to where the water drips from the pump,
Never more than a hopeful drop,
No stream to see.

You would think the land lay haunted,
Echoes gone tilling other fields,
Yet,
These ghosts that lay so still in hedgerows,
Still breathe when the wind runs in,
Put to flight on dandelion wings and dropped to settle under foot,
Scent cast off under heels that never knew them,
Never drank them when they were grown.

An empty house passed by too easy,
Lays dormant as a dusty box, emptied out of all its life;
Empty gates have other charms,
Two steps in they lay in wait,
Rain come again they speak in color,
Invitation in the rusty hinge,
A world awaiting a single step

by Anthony Tompkins

The image is of the massive stone gates of Colyton Great House, probably the most important house in the town. Not the best quality but I took it this evening just as the heavens were about to open up.