October 5, 1998

Living in the New Town

our town is not old

merely fifty years and some

the first houses still stand

as do some munitions plants

built during the war

where nations united under God

defeated Satanic evil

talk to anyone today about the war

that’s the one they’ll remember

costing thirty million lives

for peace

not

The War

that goes on even today

costing billions

for eternity

the physical vs. the spiritual

I live here

in a town scarce old enough to stand

built for war

but, lasting longer,

to war a stranger

no gracious stone cathedrals

grace our busy streets

       save one of brick on Church

an economy of spirit marks our burgh

and for that alone I grieve

newer buildings stand

but the light once so wide revealed

stands contained and cradled close

I was recalling the lights playing along the skin

of the cathedrals in my old town, lamenting the

fact that there are none here in my new town.

I discovered that something else appears to be

lacking as well that was once so common.