So still.
Nothing quite like it.
The dense quiet in
an old empty church.
The thick stone walls
keep the world out.
The exquisite colour of
stained glass lets it in.
Not many come,
though the doors
are unlocked.
Some do.
The Italian dad shows
his five-year-old
the water receptacle for
his baby sibling’s baptism.
A man does not
want to say hello.
Maybe his wife died.
Maybe he is dying.
This is the place to come
for things like that.
Life and death do not escape
its thick stone walls.
The teenage girls
take photos below
the Virgin Mary.
They muffle their amusement.
It doesn’t matter.
Life has the last
laugh on us all.
And churches catch it.
This poem is from Last Laugh (Book 2 of Poem and Prayer Series) which is currently being written.
Here is Strange Words (Book 1 of Poem and Prayer Series).
Donna Goddard 