On Hadrian's Wall

Above Crag lough
I tread webbed feet of pines.
Westward, the Wall
Leapfrogs
Crest after crest of hill.
Treetops
Affect a woodwind voice.
Jackdaws,
Questing from crags below
Go ‘Jack! Jack! Jack!’

Pines were familiar to Roman eyes.
But what had daws
To say to Roman ears?
Not ‘Jack’ for sure.
Even a local lad
Press–ganged for duty
On the Wall
Would hear them utter
Some Brigantian syllable.

Pines, crags and daws
Talked then as now
A universal tongue.
It takes the human brain
To build a Babel.