from atop the washington monument
"Laus Deo" is inscribed,
"Praise be to God," in latin,
the deadest of dead languages.

five thousand & fifty-five feet
elevation allows a lofty view
of a nation lost from God
so venerated, so needed.

as we feel with numbed fingers
the fret-board of un-reality
yet still knowing that at any
moment we could be struck blind;

the crystalizing of pure essence,
once so sought for, causes worry
that the apocalyptic horsemen
may not pass us by unscathed.

10/12/2005