See Through, by Janaea Rose Lyn

All Hallows House, photography by Alison Butler (USA) 2023

See Through

Where stone and pillar held firm and formidable, diagonal canyons of air and light form transient shadow and shape.

Strange how echoes become visible when belonging to either side.

Confessions and fervent prayers drift past in full view, no longer needing to seep through cracks 
to escape. 

Bored eyerolls and questionable gestures intended for childhood crushes across a pew look lost, 
eternally seeking a response no longer forthcoming.

The curious daughter of the tree out back
climbed as the perfect perch
to hold hands, steal a kiss, 
has entered as a congregant of trunk and branch.

Deeply exquisite is this state of exposure. 
Nothing ruined, only revealed. 

Centuries of lives that cobbled these stones with their stories, only to find their place with one. 
At their head.
 
Sun replacing stained glass becomes the window witness.

Janaea Rose Lyn

This poem was first published in Synchronized Chaos.

Janaea Rose Lyn is a dance artist and writer. Her love of well-chosen words, visual art, and metaphor is a common thread in all of her work, kinetic and literary. Her poems and creative non-fiction have recently appeared in the online journal Synchronized Chaos, Delaware Bards Poetry Review, and Hydration, Arizona Art & Poetry. Janaea is also the author of Choreographing Your Dance Career and worked nationally and internationally as the director of professional companies and college programs. She is an independent artist and educator, currently choreographing a collection of poetry and prose.  www.janaearoselyn.com