Genuflection / erection in church
Sacristy cloth / moth-eaten shroud
Secret silence / sacred secrets
Accumulate dust, aggravate the eye
Incautious laughter after confession
Benediction ------- fictional fear
Hidden faces Grace is a name,
Like Chastity, like Lucifer, like mine
You took me through the window-stain,
Drowned in image, inscence, choir-refrain
And slow ecstasy ------
I'd embrace you if I only knew your name
The silent corner haunts my shadow prayers :
Ice-cold statue -- rapture divine,
unconscious eyes,
the open mouth,
the wound of love,
the Lie
You took me, gave me reasons for
Saints and missals, vigils, all the more
Holy martyrs -----
I'd embrace you and walk through
the one-way door
I'd embrace you, but it would be
just another lie ----------
( * which is to say that the statue is the inspiration, but not the Lie)