Image © Gemma Kelly 2015
A bronze St George frees the Dragon of Our Piety,
who has two sides as piety often does;
one an insister on rites, adherent to books,
one a less famous sincerity.
Fresh from centuries of lonely sobriety
he no longer swallows wine to light it up,
drinks in Evensong, the stained-glass blood drops
the life-affirming woodwork, and friendly society;
where walls are blasted down then built back up,
and some left broken down, and myths are broken down.
Merrie Joy Williams
You can buy copies of A New Manchester Alphabet from Manchester Art Gallery, The Portico Library, at various bookshops or online.
Merrie Joy Williams 