i set the cathedral
in my mind
ablaze
unable to withstand
another moment
in vacant worship
unacknowledged

the bones of the earth
stone pillars
that once
supported
the temple
to incalculable beauty
to her

now a crooked row
of tombstones
the swollen mounds of dirt
where all my
adoration tinted
bereavements
shift in tectonic decomposition

still i see her smile