A Nation's Cathedral
A Nation's Cathedral
Gary Powell, 2015
Wren’s St Paul’s stands
proudly Baroque,
As Tom bellows out from
Grimthorpe’s clock.
Tourist’s chatter, Christians
pray
Under the high dome 300
feet away.
Vestments in green, purple
or white, glitter and sparkle
in candlelight.
Blake Richmond’s mosaics
reflect a setting sun; as the
choir sings, without a glitch,
Evensong sung at perfect
pitch.
England’s naval hero immortalised in stone, a lion
foreboding, guarding alone.
At Trafalgar he faced
Napoleon’s fleet; with
England’s great Navy he
delivered defeat.
Felled by a single shot from
a snipers gun; he lay dying –
his duty done.
England expects! He
famously cried.
He died with dignity,
courage and pride.
His crew returned home our
hero in wine, and laid him in
state so we could stand in
line.
Lay in peace Lord Nelson;
with Collingwood at your side, as we direct to you, our
national pride.
The dome is a landmark with
its cross and its ball;
it stood defiantly through it all.
A blitz of red fell from planes
high above, with intent to
destroy the London we love.
Churchill beseeched St Paul’s
Fire Watch; ‘Save the cathedral at any cost’.
The bravery of those led by Matthews and Allen
secured the cathedral’s future
into the new Millennium.
Scattered above and well
below ground, chapels of
prayer can be found.
St Dunstan’s, All Souls, the
O.B.E; Lord Kitchener lying
solemnly.
The Diehard Regiment
remembers battles past,
mourning those friends
and colleagues lost.
The American chapel so
bright and so new, reminds
us of the pain that nation
went through.
Twenty eight thousand
American dead, recorded in
a book bound in blood red.
The high altar nearby
commemorates the
Commonwealth dead; two
global conflicts of war;
another we dread.
The crypt, once a place only
for the dead, now, brightly lit,
to baptise and wed.
Ghosts of artists of the Royal
Academy converse with
musicians – surreptitiously.
Alexander Fleming is
honoured, Cripps the same,
among many other well-
known names.
Wellington and Nelson take
pride of place, separated by a
Lady of Grace.
Wren’s cathedral of St Pauls,
built of Portland stone, stands
tall and resplendent on its own,
a place of Christian worship
since 604
We hope will stand for ever more.
