There Gathered Silences

Here, they say, encased by brick

and copper buttresses,

beneath a ragged banner --

there gathered silences

Where empty lofts, once built for hymns,

now echo memories;

of the ringing in her elder walls,

that rang for centuries

The unwilling abdications;

by slander, or by sleuth

When many silences of trust

was silence of the truth

A pounding on the heavy door

split our placidity

As if they’d been forgotten,

“It’s me!” they called, “It’s me!”