THE HOTEL ST. PAUL’S

It’s not hard to find a spot
to build your nest on the old
church roof. After all, the
psalm says “even the sparrow finds
a home, and the swallow a nest
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O LORD of hosts”.
The problem is finding a spot
where the red-tailed hawk,
who claims heaven and earth
as his supermarket, cannot
ravage with his fearsome talons.
Perhaps this is why, a century
ago, the Swedes decided to
add these parapets, niches,
cornices and mini-gables high
above the rose window: not
to make it impossible to paint
without a helicopter and a Tom
Cruise stuntman hanging from
a cable, but to build a haven as
close to heaven as wooden
ladders and scaffolds allow;
for they knew—for winged
as well as biped beasts—that
blessings are passed from
generation to generation and
that a good home to raise your
little ones is a legacy that will
not be forgotten, a kindness
that will spread over the wide earth.