Cologne Cathedral

Der Dom zu Köln

The moon fallen next to the Rhein;

a black stone burnt and chipped

                        as black as the night`s eye

                        as dark as midnight`s coffee

                        as hard as the last touch

                        as strict as a monk`s hand

                        as quartz as a buried knife

                        as burnt as a warrior`s brooch

This bird gasps and loses feathers:

sick with a stomach full of stones and

a thousand years;two fingers pointing at heaven;

                        a block kneeling to water

                        a prayer caught under a hammer

                        a pale boy hanging on a wall.

All ready to launch,to be pushed into the brown flood,

over holy mud and under the ochre sky of evening.

Cold and quiet,let it take to water. 

Reviews

[Eric Cox]

Fantastic, imagery is unique and creatively penned to great effect.

[Peter H]

excellent use of simile , good write :)

[Tina Kline]

Fantastic poem. Very unique picture your words paint. Very powerful, very stark and beautiful in it's own way.

[Tree]

I would like to see this image you give with my own eyes, must be a truly remarkable sight. "ochre sky'' was a description of the sky I've never heard before, and thought it to be especially vivid.

[Pranav Malhotra]

it seems like you're painting the canvas with your words.

[Coyote Song]

An amazing write! I'm impressed by your creativity and immigration!

[Helena]

Absolutely stunning verse Leslie. Its going into my 'favourites', to savour over and over!
Bravo poet!

[Rick Puetter]

Dear Leslie,

There is so much desperation here. A magnificent poem. I can feel the passion.

High marks!

Best regards,

Rick

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

This was quite fantastic. I love the imagery and the way that you infused some really interesting wordplay, which turned the volume on this one up quite a bit. I love to read poetry where people stay out of the normal "box", but still employ poetic rules and ideas (like metaphor, similie, imagery, etc.). It seems too many people throw words out on a page and call them a poem without actually using what those before us have taught.

Anyway, my favorite sections came toward the end. The image of the gasping bird losing its' feathers was outstanding.