� copyright All Rights Reserved Wilson, Richard S.

( HAIKU-STANZAS )

The sun burns through:
St. Francis' stained glass stigmata:
our Te Deum off-key

                                                      breathing ....
                                                      the Holy Water font
                                                      stirs with ripples:

                                                       grace to the tenth power

                                a quiet rustle ...
                rosary beads shifting
                so too, my thoughts ...
                stillness again

                                                       the friar's shadow
                                                       entwined with
                                                       cincture: thinking of her

                                inside the confessional
                                a pulsebeat:
                                the sliding panel
                                opens
                                closes

in the empty chapel
at Vespers, the blue sanctus
of a cold front
deepens the silence
                       the EXIT light stutters

                                                     stanzas of the psalter
                                                     brighten and blur
                                                     with billowing clouds ...

                        now rain soaked ...
                        infinite worlds
                        transfigured
                        in the backporch screen

mirrored in the chalice
   watching the faces
singing the Agnus Dei

deep within the nave
the pall draped casket
   waits shadowless
     facing the door

        the marble Pieta'
       holding in Her lap
the warmth of the dying Sun