APOCALYPSE AT
SWAFFHAM
(Church
of St. Peter and St Paul)
-
Seán Street (U.K.)
‘An oak hammer beam roof
with 88 angels
carved in the mid-14th
century, of chestnut wood.’
Norfolk Guidebook
Upin the rafters –shadowed, earthbound, airborne
Above baptism, brides and the dead –watch keepers,
their wings pulsing on the edge of perception
over the short struggle toward dissolution.
Below come unbidden thoughts of mythical flight,
Mortals dreaming rustling, stirring, creaking trees,
strange birds murmuring in the timber machine,
impatiently waiting for revelation.
Ignition. Something has set the
engine running.
Most whispers can be drowned by a psalm, but not these.
Through the graveyard, Pentecostal winds beat on stones
with the force of seven invisible trumpets.
****