AS ONE ABOUT TO DROWN 1971

A YOUTH IN AN ABBEY IN 1971 HAUNTED BY A WOMAN

Molehills in the monk's graveyard,
I mowed the grass in between stones,

vide humiliatiónem meam et éripe me,
quia legem tuam non sum oblítus,

bell tolled from bell tower,
Dom Peter humble walked
across from cloister to tower,

warm sunshine, clouds passed,
sorrow for sin is indeed necessary,
but it should not be
an endless preoccupation Bernard said,

I tongued her sweet flower
arms outstretched like the Crucified,

see my distress, rescue me,
the mower hummed
in the afternoon sun,
sweat on brow, I wiped away,

Gareth said the limits of language
means the limits of our world
quoting Wittgenstein,  

the things that we love
tell us what we are
Thomas said, incense smell

in the church after Mass,
Latin on my tongue bittersweet,

come my love enter me she said,
None office before tea in the garth,

I sipped tea and watched the monks
gather around the trolley
in the afternoon break,

I have not forgotten you law
but have gone beyond sometimes,

George spoke of the cold of winter
how it could break him down,

I kissed her with passion
like one about to drown.