I once saw
an altar built
to honor a God.
Which God I
do not know.
The day was overcast
and threatened rain.
The years and the
elements had wrecked
havoc on this altar.
A mouse scurried across
this crumbling stone.
A bird of
prey swooped down
and carried away
this small creature.
A sacrifice for a God?
A couple
of filthy
haggard dogs
came around
begging for
a handout.
In years
to come
will our altars
to our Gods
fare the same.
Mouse, Bird, Dogs, The Elements. These are the enduring things that advertise the splendour and magnificence of sacred life. Your poem seems to imply that man made, votive symbols will inevitably crumble to dust and become tarnished with the passage of time and that the only things which link us to the divine are the continuing processes of nature. It doesn't stop us from doing it though. Mosques, Cathedrals, Altars, all God's accessories - tawdry artifacts of no real value or meaning?
Here is a response - by way of appreciation of your theme and structure.
Temple of Fiddes – An Invocation
In a trance, amid the heady fumes
Of burning laurel and barley
Sage leaves scattered on flame
Crackle bend and twist upward
Down from the mountain top
And out of Circenn, come to me here
In your sacred precinct, to your grove
Of elder trees, and your altars
Smoking with incense, dripping with honey
Where cold water flows babbling
Through the branches,
The scene shadowed with fern,
Sleep drifts down from silvery leaves
An enchantment
Horses grazing in a meadow
Verdant spring flowers
And where the breeze blows fragrant
Here in the Temple of Fiddes
Delicately in golden cups
Nectar poured, mixed for our festival.
Agree - great write this, really atmospheric. Should that be 'wreaked' or 'wrecked' though?
Hello Shirley.
Me again.
Very thought-provoking. I've just started voluntary work at Selby Abbey in Yorkshire, England, where I live. It was built in the 11th century and I am enormously proud to be associated with it in this small way.
It saddens me to see old churches fall into disrepair although I read that your concern is for the symbollic decline of spiritual values.
I am, myself, not a worshipper although I try to live the life of a Good Man (often failing!).
This poem definately has something about it Shirley, I think the rather odd and particular images make it really interesting - the overcast day threatening rain, the mouse, the dogs. Good one!
i think this great.
i like the descriptions of the ragged dog altar, although i think the final question could have been asked through a conclusion to the tale.
its sill great tho.
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Jon
Thu 22nd Mar 2012 13:09
Hi Shirley
Interesting one this and all the better for its economical use of words. John x