Cathedral Glass

My heeled boots click on the glossy floor

As it creaks under my foot, The Virgin Mary

Looks upon me, the eyes of the statue

Silently reprimand me.

I led him into temptation, they told me

I, the wicked temptress in His eyes, they told me.

Surely, he is not to blame, they told me.

Surely He will be merciful…

For I, I am just a child,

A child in the eyes of the world,

A child in the eyes of His glory.

A child, in this abandoned sanctum.

Why do I return to this place I knew?

A dark cathedral,

Midnight spilling from its empty altar,

The silver chalice still standing,

Vining ivy creeping through the crumbling cool slate,

Meadowsweet mist lingering on the ground.

The statues cast their own judgment 

Upon my woes and wickedness

As the shattered cathedral glass crunches beneath my feet,

A remnant of what was once beautiful-

Stained windows did cast a rainbow in the sunlight,

Oh, how beautiful they were

Until they were broken, violated

Oh, how beautiful I was,

Until I was broken, violated