First Things RSS Feed - Kevin McCaffrey https://www.firstthings.com/author/kevin-mccaffrey en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:54:43 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/kevin-mccaffrey 60 The Steeple of Ste. Odile https://www.firstthings.com/article/1994/02/the-steeple-of-ste-odile https://www.firstthings.com/article/1994/02/the-steeple-of-ste-odile Tue, 01 Feb 1994 00:00:00 -0500 Dear Ste. Odile, 
Do you not see the point? 
I chose you quite by chance 
My sheer sister 
From among all the others 
To be the gnomon 
Whose measured shadow falls 
On all my delicate sorrows 

I was thinking only 
Of the sharp beauty 
That you sew into the sky 

Why did you draw me 
An arbitrary pilgrim? 
For I lost myself 
In the high dwindling 
Of your Gothic schemes 
As you raised 
Your long, ascetic finger 
Warning the insouciant 
streets 
To behave and pay attention

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