I know your silhouette so well,
your Baroque rotundity a pearl
that has adorned the skyline
for three centuries and more,
and survived the destructive fires of war.
You have witnessed eminent
weddings, funerals and celebrations,
of which reverberations
still whisper round your gallery,
an everlasting litany.
Kim M. Russell, 2017
Image found on Pinterest
My poem for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Weekend Mini Challenge: Buildings
This weekend I am hosting the Weekend Mini Challenge, which was inspired by one of my favourite poems by Philip Larkin: ‘The Building. What I like about it is the way in which the poem conveys the physical appearance and atmosphere of a hospital without once using the term ‘hospital’, through the use of certain words and connotations.
This weekend’s mini challenge is to write about a building. It could be a specific building with a name that we would all know without directly naming it. It could be a church, a school or a building in which you have lived. It could be a department store, a government building or a concert hall. It is up to the reader to work out what the building is. Our poems do not have to consist of nine stanzas like Larkin’s and can be in any form we choose, but they must be new poems.
See if you can work out which building I have written about!
writing in north norfolk 
“…still whisper round your gallery,
an everlasting litany.”
Yes! This is what brought the poem home for me. The building has witnessed much of mankind, good and bad… and possibly even a few nearly anonymous indiscretions as well. Your poem does a nice work of giving the building a human character.
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Thank you, Charley!
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I love the title, Kim. Such an iconic sight in its Baroque rotundity.
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Definitely iconic! My first job in London was just around the corner and I could visit whenever I wanted.
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St. Christopher’s in London? I was almost going to say the capitol dome until i saw the cross.
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It’s definitely Saint something…. the architect was Christopher Wren.
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It’s St. Paul’s, isn’t it? What I find intriguing is all the new construction around it. It seems the cranes are somehow taking away from the reverence of the cathedral.
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You’ve got it, Sarah! I agree about the cranes. Not long ago I went down to London to read a poem at an anthology launch and, during the day, we decided to go on a short boat trip on the Thames, as we hadn’t done anything like that for a long while. We agreed that the London skyline is almost unrecognisable.
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What shock when the design of the building was so alien from the British gothic norm. It is great to visit as well as the many other smaller wren churches in the city.
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When you think that he was originally a scientist and mathematician, as well as professor of astronomy, before he became an architect, and that he designed 51 new city churches, as well as St Paul’s Cathedral, all replaced after the Great Fire of London, he was extraordinary! My personal favourite is the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.
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It is amazing how some buildings survive through the world events
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I can remember when I was a child still seeing bombsites around London. It’s a miracle that beautiful old buildings survived.
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What a lovely tribute to a place I always visit when I’m lucky enough to get to London! It’s become tradition for me to light candles for loved ones in one of the little chapels.
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Thank you, Amy!
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This is so beautiful. Your words draw a perfect picture.
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Thank you, Susie!
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Perfection! I love the title of this and of the picture you drew. I have visited St. Paul’s several times when I have been in London – no matter the season, no matter if snowing or sun, it is definitely a gorgeous pearl. How lucky you were to work close by!
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I was thinking, and still am, Kim, that it could (now, “also could) be the Chapel of the Holy Shroud in Turin, Italy. We’ve been there, it fits your poem nicely. Nice riddle, not see if you can guess mine. I have the answer posted below the poem.
This was a fun prompt, fun to write for. Thank you.
..
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Another clue: it’s in London.
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i’d say church for the litanies and celebrations. Nice write Kim
much love…
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Thanks Gillena. It’s St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
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Glorious! 😎😎😎
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Thanks Dorna!
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This is exquisitely drawn, Kim 😍 I especially love the closing; “of which reverberations still whisper round your gallery, an everlasting litany.” ❤️❤️
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Thank you, Sanaa!
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In an urban landscape which changes so relentlessly, how comforting these temples to grace and time. I miss Real Toads.
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St Paul’s Cathedral is such a beautiful building. I miss Real Toads too, Brendan.
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It does seem such a special place. I’ve read accounts of the fire wardens there during WWII who put out any blazes, and the determination not to have anything happen to it.
These lines especially, as I think buildings such as this carry so many echoes of the past:
“of which reverberations
still whisper round your gallery”
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Thank you, Merril. The whispering gallery is one of a kind. St Paul’s on the London skyline is quintessential.
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I’ve only visited London–as I child. I don’t remember if we were there or not.
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A cathedral, of course! It would be a wonderful experience to visit several cathedrals and string some of those pearls together, I think.
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We have two here in Norwich!
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Sir Christopher Wren, of course! Lovely description of the Cathedral shown on TV around the world.
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