Passerby

By Jeannette Kirchner

Crushed rock across finger tipshttps://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=3576&picture=church-entrance
bricks to the hand scraping across them.
Broken, cracked, faded, colorless stained glass
of meaningless scripture.

Shame overshadows as pieces of straw fall through the roof
scared flocks scattered into the sky.
Scurried away from their home built from God’s former home
of the decaying steeple-top.

What hope lingers as moments move forward?
History, sweet history lingering on
in
the
form
of
a church.

Category: Poetry, SNHU Creative Writing, SNHU online creative writing, SNHU Student

4 Responses

  1. Jane Wright says:

    I really love the picture chosen for this poem. It’s a true compliment to the original inspiration!

    • Cynthia Brackett-Vincent says:

      I think each reader makes his/her own interpretations…once we send a poem out into the world it takes on as many lives as readers. The message I got is that as tiny a window as hope can be at times, it is the most important thing. Hope. That was the message I got. But the poem is multi-layered, too, and it also stresses the possibility of making things whole from things that appear to be “Broken, cracked, faded, colorless.”

  2. Cynthia Brackett-Vincent says:

    Lovely poem, Jeannette! The structure of the last stanza really helps to echo the poem’s message! Nice work 🙂

    • Jane Wright says:

      Cynthia, thank you for comment on the poem’s form. As a reader, what did you perceive as the overall message of the poem? There’s no right answer, but I’m curious to your thoughts?