It was a beautiful service,
Poignant in its crimson velvet and bone white lilies,
Sorrowful in its haunting songs,
Heart rending in the bread and the cup.
Having come late and somewhat unwillingly
I was stunned into shame and grief.
Stunned by my nonchalance and hardened heart
I yearned for that emotional surge
As the desert traveller longed for the cleansing spring.
And so I indulged in the flowing currents
of soaring music, moving sermon,
and the springs of grief welled up
from long forgotten depths.
"Oh Lord! Lord! Why......."
Soon it was over.
We wiped our eyes and blew our noses
A blazing clarity filling our minds:
The vivid cross, the crystalline vision
of pain and forgiveness and something transcendent
as the organ murmured the benediction.
We filed out of the pews into the
blazing sun and blue sky.
I saw a friend and said 'hi'
We laughed and decided to go for lunch.
The clarity of the bright sun and blue sky
and the comfort of my loafers and my clean shirt
Filled my mind.
I gave a laugh, and somewhere in a deep dark place
It echoed through endless depths of
dead white stone,
Where crimson rivers flowed steadily away.
April 2007
