I S S U E 2

Nicola Heaney

St Michael on the Mount Without

Shattered marble blankets the nave, remains
of funerary monuments long lost
to the figures commemorated on the walls.
Shard of cherub here, sliver of angel there.

Above, weathered beams frame the sky.
Chill air rises through gaps in the floor
from graves bubbling below
releasing spectral vapours into air.

Prayer books sit opened on the altar,
pages dotted with mould. At the base
a kneeling pad rots among rusted candlesticks.
Broken pews are seamed with moss and guano.

The church shut when it lost its congregation,
mislaid them like a set of keys, stood empty
until squatters moved in, built homes in the belfry,
christened it in flames when the city kicked them out.

Nicola Heaney is a Northern Irish writer and poet, based in Bristol. She spent over a decade teaching English to teenagers in Bristol/Bath and Madrid before completing an MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa. Her work has appeared in publications such as The North magazine, the Honest Ulsterman and Riggwelter Press.