THE OLD CHURCH - Sestina
Over the altar in bold words of gilded beauty,
‘Built by the bare hands of the parish poor,
Completed in 1378 a year blest of the Lord,
Come, rest and pray and feel the great love
Of those who worked so hard in hunger,
Some dying before the great work was done.’
I sat and gazed in awe at the work that was done,
Carved arches worked in strength and beauty,
Primitive tools working with bare handed hunger,
A great gift to God from the heart of all the poor,
Can you imagine that great sacrifice and sweet love,
As those humble people wished to serve their Lord?
Did they think it would stand so long, this gift to their Lord?
Standing strong over six hundred years since it was done,
What a great gift of heritage that still stands to show the love
Of the unfortunate ones to create a thing of grace and beauty,
I can see feet wrapped in rags, the sack cloths of the poor,
Working in all weathers each one often filled with hunger.
But they worked with all their hearts despite their hunger,
An edifice to complete so to worship in peace their Lord,
For the grand church close by always shunned the poor,
So they knew this massive task for them needed to be done.
The church was not large, two hundred seats styled in beauty,
Where they could worship, freely show Him of their sweet love.
Some kind architect must have helped in this task of love,
Maybe the rich at times in kindness relieved them of hunger,
As they laboured in fields as well as their church of beauty,
In some way the rich being kind would be blest by the Lord,
As they helped with meager offering so the work could be done
Without death, or too much suffering of the ever present poor.
That saying across the altar of the church built by the poor,
Helped me realize that through the ages there is a deep love
That enable the cold and starving to find strength to get done,
Dressed in rags and tatters, yet spiritually they did not hunger,
For they were willing to sacrifice all to worship their Lord,
Built a church that still stands firm as faith in loving beauty.
Although you maybe poor, too often cold and full of hunger,
There is a way to show love, to your eternal redeeming Lord,
Those folks say thy will be done, gaze from above at it’s beauty.
(Millicent) Ann Margetson December 26, 2003