Lara Dolphin

Evocation of Solomon’s Temple

Allegri's sistine secret echoed round
the chapel walls unchurching any soul
who tried to steal the sacred, stygian sound
removing him from off the parish roll.

In Rome at age fourteen, young Mozart heard
the Miserere mei, Deus twice
and memorized the music and the words
and thereby raised the ban without the price.

At every holy season, Yom Kippur
did call the highest priest into the dark
so he might take our sins and then implore
our God divine once more before the ark.

Upon the hill at Calvary, He died,
a simple man, the Son of God, a Jew.
Our sins repaid by Jesus crucified
and so the temple veil was torn in two.

So when you find your feet are made of clay
and given up and lost all will to fight,
my friend, go seek and find the one true way
for sin is black while truth resides in light.

{Poem by Lara Dolphin}