a prayer - a poem inspired by the roofless church in new harmony, indiana

Perhaps it was the wings of the dove

Beating the airs and conquering them,

Able to move from Heaven to Earth

And returning again with ease,



I sat in an open air temple once

Squared in a great expanse,

Walls but four feet high

With no roof, just the vaulted dome



In the nave, a sculptured dove

Graced the altar of stone

Beneath an inverted flower-bud

Which cast the shadow of a mature Rose



And there in the shadow of the Rose

I made my silent prayer

I prayed for understanding and Peace

Perhaps ignorant one could have both



And just as the boundary walls

Marked off the sacred territory

From the surrounding wild countryside

And the Rose’s shadow caught my supplication...



My prayer vanished into the ether

The vast dome Round,

And I had faith it had reached it’s destination

As a child can find his way home…