Balancing the Flame

(St. Stephan Cathedral in Vienna - found here)

                   St. Stephanskirche, Vienna

Gothic grappling hook to heaven,

When it was rebuilt in the 14th century

The limestone must have shone brighter

Than the December snow.

Now soot-shadows climb the walls

And can’t be scrubbed away.

Inside, the light is also dim,

Even over the altar’s marble ember.

I drop a Euro in the cup.

In the musty oxygen,

The candle releases

A thread of smoke.

Most prayers begin in failure.

Like a match in an unsteady hand,

My amen always falters.

In what trembling air,

On what wick of words

Can I balance its flame?

~Jack Stewart