Xanthoxenite
in St. Mary Lake
Janet Kuypers
4/25/19 (written after the Notre Dame fire)
I ran my hand
along your metal —
the straight bars
somehow flowed
into concentric circles
and petals of a flower,
to not only protect
but also accentuate
your stained-glass windows —
because
even your barricades
were beautiful.
We look for beauty,
we take photographs,
and we forget
the sense of touch,
so I glide my hand
along your metal,
feel the roughness,
feel the smoothness,
soak it in
with every sense
I can.
I could touch
that metal, that glass,
run my hand
along your
Notre Dame Brick,
literally made from
the clay from the base
of St. Mary Lake —
laced with xanthoxenite,
rich in calcium carbonate,
because that was
the one place
that created the
most perfect color brick
for this most perfect place.
These visual things
concerned them,
because if a fire
destroyed one building,
they would work to
preserve those bricks,
because even
these visual things
meant the world
to us for
some
reason.
And when fire
one afternoon
consumed you
entirely, everyone
worried about
what physical
objects could
be preserved...
Your ancient beauty
cannot be replicated,
yet billionaires are
offering millions
to re-create you again.
And I just want
to tell them,
replicating something
once it’s destroyed
misses the point,
because this
sacred place
is just that — sacred —
and it is so much more
than recreating
something
on sight
and hoping
that’s enough.
| 
