You know I'll take you there
Just like a prayer
To St Peter’s
Not the one in the Vatican City
With its pillars and marble and frescoes and domes
But the one near Dumbarton
With its concrete and rubble and weeds and stones
Stoned
Immaculate
I’ll take you there
To Gillespie, Kid & Coia’s rotting brutalist gem
Like the Barbican in ruins
Like Sean Edwards’ Maelfa
Like the Colosseum
Not the one in Rome
With its lions and gladiators
and its majesty and tribunes
But the one in Watford
With its stand-up comics
and one-night stands
and its singers and tributes
'Move Closer' sang Phyllis
Are you not entertained?
St Peter’s seminary
The archetypal architectural Marmite
Redundant already at its inauguration
St Peter’s seminary
Like Concorde on its first flight
Redundant already
Accessible, but only just
Behind Cardross golf course
Take the path off the Carman Road
And clamber over the fence behind the fourth hole
Follow the path and through the gate
And there it is
Caged
Hidden
Fenced in
Yet open
Its bulging prayer chapels like mini reactors
Like Chernobyl
Rewilding
With its roaming boars and bears
With its mythical lingering smells of stale cabbage
and smoke
and vodka
Cigarettes and alcohol
'Is it my imagination?' sang Liam
Or have I finally found something worth living for
But there’s no lingering smells here in Cardross
The dampness from the Kilmahew burn floats in the air
Is it my imagination?
Or can I hear a game of ping pong
And through the still, through the calm
Can I hear a psalm?
Just like a prayer
Its empty halls and stairs
Its library and its refectory
Its humanising wood long gone
Rotted or stolen or removed for safety
As it dies
Its muted greys and browns fade
It is reborn with eruptions of vibrant colours
Wildflowers pervade
Graffiti invades
Lies Corruption Greed the spray paint proclaims
'Power, Corruption & Lies' sang Barney
Just like a prayer