[i]The Drowning Chapel[/i]

A lonely prairie chapel stands
in north Saskatchewan's lost lands
 where rails had once been said to lie
 where towns were left to rot and die

A touring wolf was keen to see
A ghostly town drowned in debris
 where always did it seem to rain
 where moon would wax and never wane

A cynic fox, Lou's riding mate
on roads forsaken by the fates
 where life had pattered long ago
 where static choked the radio

A sea of grass consumed the plains
and underneath were emptied veins
 where prospectors had drained her blood
 where bodies lay entombed in mud

A chapel damned could do no harm
not one that stood beside a farm
 where grain by folk was yearly reaped
 where wives with scythes had softly weeped

A door was found in search of loft
it lead down to the undercroft
 where tunnels sprawled in many ways
 where mine met God and ur met praise

A skeptic fox said turn and run
but Lou had not yet had his fun
 where both would find some mystery
 where bones were lost to history

A trail was laid to keep their track
and yet it failed to lead them back
 where light had met the underground
 where things once lost again were found

A dying torch at last went dark
and neither one dared birth a spark
 where yellow birds had sang and fell
 where darkness like the waters swelled

A cloud above did roar and break
and with it fox and wolf did wake
 where puddles pooled around their paws
 where weather wore the tunnel's flaws

A frantic splashing filled the mines
when cave-in showed its early signs
 where tourists met a common fate
 where cynics found their strength too late

A lonely prairie chapel stands
in north Saskatchewan's lost lands
 where rails had once been said to lie
 where towns were left to rot and die.