Gargoyles
By: Paul Kloppenborg
(For Linda Caldwell)


Granite giants mossed by age,

renewed daily by rain or wind.


There is movement; foliage from mouth

The pealing of bells through gray rock.

A twisting column snarls up(wards) to eternity,

The severed heads buttress buildings,

Drool chiseled hymns at me below


There is a cathedral safe in sunlight where

Deeply drilled pupils wince at my prayer.

Beneath protruding tongues, the flared nostrils,

Sin was spat at all who entered

I chose to kneel in silence.


Now passing through life's understanding,

My thoughts under their long shadow



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