Unsanctified Worship



Sometimes -
she looks cold, and bitter
Wearing-
the leftover robe of Winter

Like spit on the ground
Her messed up land
Makes cows frown
In December
She never smiles
Mile after mile -

Sandstone cries to Moon
To ease her pain come afternoon
Sun hears her prayers, and proclaims-
Sandstone will burn again

Sage and Cactus create abstract Maze
Coyotes shadow dance - at end of day
Stone they romance through the haze
On canyon walls time scrawls all names

Laughing howls -cut in, and out
Wind hears their calls carried far out -
Summoning pain - She's amused !
Garishly grinning-
In light of day

Turning dust devils loose
Upon them all-
Irreverent they become
Desert Squalls !

Chasing cattle in riotous fashion
Just to hear horns clang, and bones rattle
Hooves hit her unsanctified land
Unceremoniously grand !

She smiles while life bleeds
Beings though never see -
Howls, dust and water flee

Disappearing -
Often in vaporous ending
Temporary you see-

She will remain -

                                  eternally...
Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted by IrishRose on January 20, 2016

Modified on March 14, 2023

50 sec read
53

Quick analysis:

Scheme XABA XCXAXX DDEX FGFE HHXBG XXXX XXCC XII BBI X
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 984
Words 167
Stanzas 10
Stanza Lengths 4, 6, 4, 4, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 1

Gwendolyn McGrath

I am a Writer, Artist and Muscian. I'm a graduate of UC East Bay, Hayward Ca. MFA and UC BERKELEY MFA Creative Writing. more…

All Gwendolyn McGrath poems | Gwendolyn McGrath Books

0 fans

Discuss the poem Unsanctified Worship with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Unsanctified Worship" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/44306/unsanctified-worship>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    More poems by

    Gwendolyn McGrath

    »

    May 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    25
    days
    21
    hours
    43
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    A poem in which the first letters of each line spell a word is called _______.
    A an acrostic
    B a haiku
    C an ode
    D a sestina