Seven Churches (2002)

The valley of Glendaloch,
in which the seven churches
are situated ... contains
a greater treasure of
ecclesiastical antiquities
than is to be found in any
other part of Ireland.
- Grosse's Antiquities (1792)

Seven churches all in ruins,
roofed by one brute sky.
Seven arches knit with vines,
all egress bent around.

Seven rooks of remnant faith
turn sainted bones to peat;
the monks are cloistered now
across the blasted walls.

Seven yews now sadly rise
from those sanctuary floors,
chaffing the homeless wind,
bowering memories far too old

to name, and now bluntly bear
the centuries' chilled gaze
while seven lonely sheep
like parishioners still graze.