The building between the buildings. A child,
Graveyards. That woman’s mind
Searches pews, putting her heart in it,
Her husband holding his hands where

Her faith lies. Under our feet, another
Pile of rubble. Written over,
She raises her eyes to find
A vaulted ceiling, a gesture

Beyond. The latest old columns stand
but the windows cast white
Light over everything, every pane
Blown where once played crimson

And blue across the stones. Look.
Cold-eyed, they look back.

—

Katharine Coles’ seventh collection of poems Wayward, will be published in June 2019; her memoir, Look Both Ways, was released in 2018. In 2018, Red Butte Press produced Stranger & Stranger, which featured poems by Coles and images by her long-time collaborator, visual artist Maureen O’Hara Ure. Coles has received grants and fellowships from the NEA, the NEH, the NSF, and the Guggenheim Foundation. She is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Utah.