Union Church Concert (Hyde Park)

In this American notion of a sacred room
rounded and upreaching,
small arches stand on larger arches
flanked by repeating pillars
under long ceilings staves that make me think
of Byzantium or Norway in the Middle Ages.
There is no spire, no pointed cruciform,
no loft or gallery,
just one wide space, expanded
softly by our quiet breathing,
where we listen together, level and lit
by plain white globes in groups of six
on iron rings from six iron chains,
three rows of six from front to back,
and the quiet generosity of light is asserted.