At last the church is open to the heavens,
Not since its consecration has a congregation
Been closers to a spirit maker.
Fall leaves fall through rafters
And gather at the altar stones.
Its ascension is part accession.
The night belongs to real estate.
The owner cannot attorn; and so,
It’s clear to us in one lifetime
The insufficiency of faith,
The shifting sands of substance,
The cloud over the title,
Structure amassed in rubble,
On this eighth day of creation
After the first seven have failed.
Change
Demolition of St. Mary’s Academy
The neighborhood would never be the same.
If evil is anything it is change.
The convent was carried up to heaven
In clouds of demolition smoke.
I swear the trees were trembling
And the people were afraid.
Rose garden and grotto gripped
Hallowed ground and bled.
I saw the sad sisters of the order
Wander off in strange disorder,
Though the Devil survived his shattered grave,
Hobbling from the ruined conclave.
Salvatore Ala 