Goodbye Old Friend

(Post Updated)

Goodbye, old friend,

you will be sadly missed.

Thank you for the memories:

Soft light shining through stained glass

Whispered echoes

Hush and prayer;

this is a Sacred place.

Grey stone and white stone,

Graceful arches

Soaring ceilings.

Now you lie crumpled, broken.

Pigeons roost in your rafters, open to the sky.

Steel bracing now twisted,

the treasured rose is shattered.

Where bells once pealed and stirred my soul

now empty sky and silence.

Where once buskers played

now seagulls roam an empty square.

Where market stalls bustled

now weeds grow through the cracks.

I came today to say goodbye,

but not farewell forever.

Once day hope and life will rise again,

and I will meet you then.