A child notices the pilasters—the stone blocks jutting from the church walls at the corners—and imagines one as her own little house. She can feel herself entering the bricks and picture herself sitting inside on a small chair. The scene is quiet and solitary: she is not playing, just waiting very still, all alone, for something that never comes, something already gone. The poem turns a child’s make-believe into a gentle meditation on loneliness and absence. There is a wistful, almost hollow mood, as if the speaker has found a hidden room where she can be alone with a longing she cannot name. The church setting adds a sense of stillness and reverence, but the feeling is personal and inward rather than religious.
The Pilaster — Summary
The church has pieces jutting out Where corners of the walls begin. I have one for my little house, And I can feel myself go in.
I feel myself go in the bricks, And I can see myself in there. I'm always waiting all alone, I'm sitting on a little chair.
And I am sitting very still, And I am waiting on and on For something that is never there, For something that is gone.