Of The Old Church Poem by Emmanuel George Cefai

You are affirming a deep and long-lasting rapport between poetry and church buildings, which I can readily assent to. Both pay witness to the Inner Soul which modern materialism is at great pains to deny to both; both embody the interiority of the human being and the absolute importance of ministering to it. Both are constructed according to an architecture not used in other parts of the city or human interaction (ie. no one speaks poetic speech! there would be much less nonsense in the air if people had to express everything in verse.) Finally both still exist although in a dilapidated condition. The churches are too expensive to maintain as functioning places of worship, because there are too few worshiper to pay for them (Ironically, a church no long being used can be declared an historical landmark and be kept up by the state in perfect condition. And POETRY - our beloved poetry - what poet can make a living from poetry alone? A poet has to iwrite novels or teach to keep[ the wolf from the door. And both churches and Poetry speak a different language. The moral teachings of churches is often opaque to listeners. Poetic speech unless carefully studied will take some readers nowhere so they shut the book, their minds already being shut