Iconostasis, edit 2: Caleb, Mark, Joseph, Matt, Achebe

[Achebe]

ICON, edit one

Piety turned
my heart to stone.

Now let me cover this rock ..... 
in gold leaf, in the delicate .... Second 'in' needed?
browns of flesh, in flashes
of red and rich azure; .... Don't get the the rich azure. Brown skin and blue eyes?
let it not remain gray,
empty, almost modern,

ultimately the kinder home to moss .... Why 'kinder' ? 
which knows only compromise. .... Didn't get how compromise was related tithe rest of the pome 

BASILICA

Piety turns
the heart to stone.

Let me cover this rock
in gold leaf, in the delicate
browns of flesh, in flecks
of black and rich azure --
let it not remain gray,
empty, almost modern,

ultimately the kinder home to moss
which knows only compromise.