Between the altar
and the belfry of the village cathedral,
an ancestral differenceꓽ age-long toll of the bell
and
historic quiet —
all to measure the heartbeat of man
and ascertain the valour in him.
It's wartime, we are sadly reminded!
The sounds of bombs come with both
Heart-cracking noise and necropolis-silence.
A coin with two different faces.
That's why it's war.
It's as senseless as those who wage it.

The message from the cathedral
this morning saysꓽ
toll and quiet are indivisible;
they’re two-in-one,
with one coming after the other,
like Creation and Armageddon.