PeaceBang

Preacher, Can You Use This?

I found this poem while looking for another one I’m going to use in the service on Sunday…

THE RUINS OF ROME
By Michael Bledsoe
*after a trip to Rome in November 2003

the ruins of Rome rustle
but the shell of the beetle remains averse to time
as it traverses across column and stone
the wind howls past the bony thumb of power
the souls which once resided here
sleep beneath shattered trees, ruined worlds
flicker in the dusk like Mose’s bush
burned by God’s voice and man’s indifference
I raise a glass of wine along the Imperial Way
the beetle has tripped onto its back
I gaze at the Colisseum and spit into Caesar’s eye
a glass of molten blue
the dome of the sky
Rome is gone
halflings of Christ and Caesar occupy the throne of Peter
I will kiss no stone, touch no statue
but angle my body between church and state
and pray to the One crucified by them both.