Stained Glass
whisper
still space beneath the spire
echoes
the daunting
inviting
portal behind my moving body
above my moved mind
pillars rising
to reach and reclaim
one arch after another
buttresses
strength and intricacy
gasping in the midst of it all
sheltered from the bright and the loud
exposed to a different self
you sense there is something
to the light and sound
that speaks to you
as if there was more
as if there had to be
someone there
there is
in the timeless tireless swirl
of the tissues of the earth
generations
breathing in and out
unsung stories echoing
prime mover that is hardly final
first cause that does not count
eternity fleeting
look back out through the vault
across the shimmering expanse
and see the curvature of it all
cavernous masonry cannot but follow
the living features of the only planet
that just might care
with our evolved bodymind
one and all
we need no stained glass
Dawid Juraszek is the author of, among others, Medea and Other Poems of the Anthropocene (2020) and Carbon Capture and Stories (2024). A bilingual writer and educator based in China, he is working on a research project in cognitive ecocriticism and environmental education. His fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have have been published in numerous outlets in Poland, the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand.
Amethyst Review 