Macedonia, June 2012

At the Fair of South Europe

      the after-dinner conversations,

      in the background,

while I enjoy the fading evening light,

      silhouetting an Eastern Orthodox church,

      with its thrilling cross-capped, rounded domes.

What do the darkening outlines of that mysterious church,

       against the fading amber light of the glorious evening sky,

       mean to me?

Why am I drawn to these symbols,

       of participation in the holy

       ground of being?

Why am I certain that there is almost nothing,

       in these after-dinner conversations,

       whether in English or Macedonian,

       that would interest me?

How can I speak at the Fair tomorrow,

       in a way that will bring the universality,

       of those evening crosses,

       darkening within the radiant sunset,

       into the awareness of some of those,

       present at this Fair?

How might it be,

       if the holy ground of being,

       could speak through my mind and body?

Oh, to speak from the depths of that darkening church!

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