ruins

they're tearing down
the old school
and people are weeping

it didn't meet the codes
they couldn't afford
to keep it standing

but it
holds
peoples' lives

connects children
and grandchildren

they remember When

as another slab
of concrete
shatters on the ground

through the clouds
of dirt
and gravel

people drive by
slowly
as if in a funeral procession
or rubber-necking at a car wreck

silently
watching it all
fall apart

a sanctuary
a container
of snapshots of the past

moments frozen
all looking so perfect
in retrospect

coming down
broken
dust to dust
and
ashes to ashes

all my life
I was moving on
here and there
packing up

the one constant
the thread
that held all the pieces
together

was
the Sanctuary
candlelight and broken bread
grape juice and desert epics
billowy costumes
formal procession

drama in word
redemption offered
in water and fire
the cup and the stole

and like a giant yellow
Caterpillar
huge sharp teeth
heavy, crushing, biting

it all falls down
shattered
stone upon stone
teeth set on edge

fire and smoke
ashes to ashes
dust to dust

ashes to ashes
dust to dust

broken chalice
in the rubble
torn pages
from an empty book

echoes of pontification
faded in the air
splintered wood
once carved, once beautiful

all coming down

no longer viable
no longer life-giving
no longer
useful

ashes to ashes
dust to dust

in the midst
of the rubble
I search