Thousand-Mile Drop

by Randy Billings

Since 1893,
the bell at Saint Dom's
..Cathedral - to both
God and congregation
..did call.

But the Hand
that once pulled it
..pulled too hard,
..and pulled it -
down to the ground.

No more
the Diphthong
..resounds down
..the hillside.

No more
the beckoning
..spirits call
the ocean's kin -
fishermen, sirens
and riggers alike.

fire-engine lights
punctuate the tragedy.

a very steady rain.

police tape
defines
the territory.

the huddling masses
can only gaze
at the enormous height
they once again must raise;
so that, their Gods will not
..feel abandoned,
and their inner longings
remain accounted for.

the Irish hands
from centuries yore,
yonder, now-living,
begin to sift through
the steel-brick
..and despair,
before the dust
has even settled.

To restore
the emblem of
their faith.

And atone for
a thousand-mile
drop.