Hush! Listen! Do you hear the screeching wind
Rattling our newly fixed stained glass windows?
Listen! Do you hear the wooden doors
Battering painfully against the jams?

Hush! Listen! The fingers of the wind
Pry carefully, then recklessly, at our
Fortressed, mighty church. Throw the latch!
Bar the doors! Huddle in the corner!

Hush! Listen! I hear voices at the door.
No! It's only branches sighing, crying.
Hush! Listen! The voices are young. They laugh;
They cry, and beat in frustration at locked doors.

Who dares creep closer to hear the words
They fling at us in desperation. Hush!
Listen! Hypocrite! Saved? Jesus Christ!"
What fools they are, these rebellious kids.

They absolutely do not understand
The intricacies of our present structure;
The necessity of passing each deed of faith,
Through grace, by majority voice of our

Administrative Board. Haggle, pick...
Rend the heart from its bloody casement!
But creep back quietly to the clutch
Of humanity holding its corporate ears

Against the voice of youth. Clamor!
Shout! Drown them out! Don't listen!
They dare to tamper with our tradition!
If it's good enough for me, it is for them.

Quietly! Listen! Do you hear them now?
Has the siege lifted? Are we safe?
Or is it only a lull before the battle?
Unbar the door! Look! They're leaving.

Fine. Let's sing a hymn of praise to God
And rub our hands in satisfaction
That we withstood the vile onslaught
Of rebellious, wild, thoughtless youth!

Hush! Listen! Who cried out in such
Terrible pain? We can peep without notice
Through this clear round in the stained glass window.
Why, their hands are pinioned against our door!

Hush! Listen! to their wrenching screams.
Come out from under your safe wooden pews.
Listen! Do you hear them cry...?
"God! Forgive them. They do not listen!"

July 5, 1969
Margaret Anne Greenwood
Morning Sun, Iowa