(who are we to question faith?
when we've yet to answer the call to duty,
for faith questions all)
hollow moon,
bare, unblinking
stalking our final mile together,
this path
others have trodden well,
perdition.
I came to your church
hidden deep
within the thicket-
found your alter
ravaged to ruins
your pillars of strength
lost their luster-
now your children
have cause enough to weep,
for you went into the world
all full of woe, to plant seeds,
and wilted there in a season
oh sister!
I feel your prayers for peace,
your pleas of freedom
from the angry angels
stars sink low
spilling shadows between the rows,
I find no petals here-
these stems riddled by thorns
your vineyard has wintered
a cemetery erects
from the ashes of your expense-
yet still I believe
enough
to kneel in your stubble garden
christ is still dieing,
I breathe
both ease and regret-
for the penance has been paid
but there is nothing left
Amberlee Carter
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/harvest-3/
