Seeking Solace from the Dead

photo by sean, © 2009

by Nikki Macbeth
Mindful Living Guide
June 15, 2009

Seeking solace from the dead,
writers, drunks and
other solitaries we sit
in grassy churchyards,
walled from the relentless din
of age-old commerce outside

Traffic noise is muffled here,
wood pigeons and bumblebees
triumph
over the human voice —
the gargoyles gaze down
in silence

A squirrel darts and weaves,
quicksilver
around a chestnut trunk,
then leaps to the wall
and is gone —
along the length of the wall
old tombstones lean;
huge, uneven stone teeth,
softened and blurred by lichen

The clock is striking six —
the church, anticipating dusk,
draws its grassy skirts
around itself;
and believers and non-believers alike
shift imperceptibly nearer,
reluctant to leave this place

© copyright 2009 by Nikki Macbeth.