I. the waiting

i am the priest of you
i am your devotion
i scatter prayers like rose petals
at the foot of your derelict temple

by day i tend your gardens and
wash your temples walls clean
of blasphemies some nonbelievers
have claimed i do so in vain

at night I cry my mantra
it scrapes across the locked
and boarded temple doors on its
way to dear empty heaven

i am your devotion
i am kneeling outside your temple
weeping


II. the suffering

i have watched unclean men enter
your temple

how many men have tainted
your altar
have flayed your innocence
with dirty hands
have robbed your sacred places
left you bereft
of compassion

i search for that yet consecrated
i search for the hidden among the fouled
and crumbled

i am your devotion
i am kneeling outside your temple
weeping
for I may never know that which
they have taken

the warmth of you


III. the longing

though i cannot
sense you i
know you
stand beside me
vigilant

though aloof

my immolation:
i have naught but icon
and stained glass
left to speak of you

the greatest test of discipline
of faith
the feel the cold void
of your presence each day
to sleep alone outside
your door
to continue the wait
to surrender pride
and self-importance
in the religion that my
unwavering piety to you
has become

i am your devotion
i am kneeling outside your temple
weeping
for i am caretaker here
though i may never in my life
be allowed inside

03/10/2004

Posted on 03/10/2004
Copyright © 2025 Alastre Zidler