Music for Tenebrae
shadows of a ceremony -
rarely enacted - haunt the culture
seamless robe of balanced voices
moving down the diatonic stair
winds and birdsong all fall silent
skies leach their colour westward
the nasal plangency – astringent
signifies exquisite pain
a solitary bird is flying
fast and high against the blue
whether some herald of deliverance
or the fell hawk coming for a lamb
pick up a corner of the veil
if there is blood it should be washed
not with your tears but rather with
the grace of mordent harmonies
winter takes toll on chantry walls
after the rinsing of spring showers
snails move in damp grass slick
as sweet agonies of passiontide
entering that velvet darkness where
the final candle burns - a black shape
like a wing - high up a pillar
under the clerestory beats
on the dim-lit belly of pale stone
moving against a harmony
of soaring voices – yet dispersing
as their final chord resolves
Since retiring from parish ministry, Tony Lucas continues with writing and spiritual direction. His poetry has appeared widely, on both sides of the Atlantic and he is working on a new collection, to add to those previously published by Stride and Stairwell Books.
Amethyst Review 