And the walls come down
pillars dead on pyres of bricks
stained glass pocked with holes
like a blinded man who prayed in brail
All is now lifeless
All is now faithless
pulled down by mechanical pagans
Hose water tamps the dust
the synagogue’s last glass of wine
as the sentence is carried out
Men in hardhats
witness the death
Trucks cart away
the remains
There is no kaddish
for a fallen synagogue
No Jews come to pray
or even to stay the final decree
for these old bricks ceased to be
holy holy holy
so many epochs ago
Still one hardhat wonders
why the Jews didn’t save
the windows