Architecture

Imagine the body as a cathedral,
the longstone chamber of neck & breastbone
with its crested rafters
& vaulted angles.

Light slants the belly
where windchimed dust motes
lamplight the ground.

This cathedral quiets a litany of misdeeds—
yours and others & candledew
flickers

while a lone violin
echoes the holyair—

Inside lives a holythought
in prayer, soft lips
issuing blessings—
fireflies that lift, illumine
a dark evening.

It is possible to surrender,
to sit at a pew carved from ash.

*

Alicia Elkort (she/her) has been nominated thrice for the Pushcart, twice for Best of the Net and once for the Orisons Anthology. Her first book of poetry, “A Map of Every Undoing,” was published in the fall of 2022 by Stillhouse Press with George Mason University, and she has been published in numerous journals and anthologies. She reads for Tinderbox Poetry Journal and works as a Life Coach and as an editor with Shiversong LLC. Alicia lives in the gorgeous light of Santa Fe, NM. For more info or to watch her two video poems: http://aliciaelkort.mystrikingly.com/