Robert M. Simmons  

from Morning in Middleborough... (Poems 1991-2006)

                    The Peirce Academy

It might have been on Mount Olympus made

with pediments and Doric columns white,

positioned in some pristine sylvan glade

where deities could let their thoughts take flight.

On Center Street this man-made temple rose,

and through its portals generations went

to face the world outside with all its woes,

until their gentle services were spent.

One day the antique doors were closed for good

as progress cast a doubt upon its worth,

so men quickly disposed of stone and wood,

leaving behind a vacant patch of earth.

Now on this site a plain brick building stands

where commerce moves through very mortal hands.

                            © 2003 by Robert M. Simmons

Note.  The Peirce Academy was built in 1808 and was demolished in 1932 to make space for the construction of a new post office.

Postcard showing the Peirce Academy

• Next Poem • Previous Poem •

• Home • Author's Note • Contents • Contact •

Subjects: poems about, Peirce Academy, historic architecture, building demolition, sonnets, poetry, poems

The Peirce Academy