Cologne Cathedral

Der Dom zu Köln

The moon fallen next to the Rhein;

a black stone burnt and chipped

                        as black as the night`s eye

                        as dark as midnight`s coffee

                        as hard as the last touch

                        as strict as a monk`s hand

                        as quartz as a buried knife

                        as burnt as a warrior`s brooch

This bird gasps and loses feathers:

sick with a stomach full of stones and

a thousand years;two fingers pointing at heaven;

                        a block kneeling to water

                        a prayer caught under a hammer

                        a pale boy hanging on a wall.

All ready to launch,to be pushed into the brown flood,

over holy mud and under the ochre sky of evening.

Cold and quiet,let it take to water. 

Reviews

[Emily B]

i remember an artist just outside the cathedral, drawing Beethoven in chalks, it was huge . . . i remember the light playing on the river, i remember coffee in a little shop down the street

you take me back there

[Sami Khalil]

"as black as the night`s eye
as dark as midnight`s coffee
as hard as the last touch
as strict as a monk`s hand
as quartz as a buried knife
as burnt as a warrior`s brooch"
This is a cathedral gem of a write...Thank you for sharing...:)

[FJ Davis]

This is, indeed, exceptional work.
Stunning, Leslie!

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Leslie you are a real poet. We are mere players. This is sensational as verse. Amazing like a painting hanging in a gallery that only gets to hang because it is so unique.