Essay:And Now She Rots

Composed upon a view of an abandoned Lutheran church in the woods of northern Minnesota.


 * The old church sags within the grove,
 * whose branches bend to touch her sides.
 * Atop the rose carved o'er the door
 * an untamed cobweb now abides.


 * The rising rust leaves ruddy streaks
 * and peels the paint about her cross.
 * Her gutter's clogged with autumn leaves,
 * and in her crypt grows mold and moss.


 * O Germans, faring through the wood,
 * be sure ye mark that clearing well.
 * For there once sang the ancient cult
 * that pulled your fathers back from hell.


 * But then ye left her there to die,
 * were "born again" and tied new knots.
 * Ye chose salvation over hell,
 * but that's no choice. And now she rots.