Norman Mailer
AT THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. ISAAC
IN LENINGRAD
Great and ancient building
Dread reeks out of your damp
Huge fear stirs in your stone
You sit at the feast
in gloom and splendor
You lie in copulation
on our common a1r
Old histories have left a curse
Your ghosts are the sons of failure
They swear to call again
We hear oaths from your dead
Great and ancient building
Odorous old beast
We revere you
Norman Mailer's most recent novel is
Tough Guys Don't Dance,
published by Random House.
