Steeple Town Minus One

Knocking the Spire Off St. Francis

By: Charles Giuliano - May 19, 2016

Steeple Town Minus One

This is the church
This is the steeple
Open the door
See all the people
Children's hand game

Once booming
North Adams
Rich on
King Cotton
Mills spinning
From thread to cloth
Arnold Print Works
Vast campus
Once Sprague Electric
Now MASS MoCA
They worshiped
Shades of faith
French, Irish, Polish
Churches for each
Catholic and Protestant
Steeples dominating
City skyline
Fallen on hard times
Jobs long gone
Some shuttered
Converted to
Museums others
Simply vacant
Pious logos
Steeplecats
Local ball team
Restaurant and realty
Proud of its spires
Now one less
Hundred-year-old
St. Francis of Assisi
Safety hazard
Keeping the bells
For whom
Will they toll
Calling faithful
To worship change

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Reader Comments

""Calling faithful /to worship change." Rather scary if you are referring to the present Pope, though worshipping change in a country with the Second Amendment does put some limits on the seriously zealous Christians, though, alas, not the zealous Mohammedans. Jonas"

Posted By: Jonas on 05-23-2016, 03:27 pm
"It's a shame and a travesty. A few falling bricks is a weak excuse for dismantling the structure. It's only because they can sell the bare land easier than with a church building. A few falling bricks do not condemn a whole structure which has stood for more than 100 years. It could have been saved. They should be ashamed for their deceitful actions."

Posted By: Irving on 05-19-2016, 03:54 pm
"'Calling faithful /to worship change.' Good line, really hard to live through."

Posted By: Jane Hudson on 05-19-2016, 02:28 pm