GOOD BOOK MCMLXXI

A YOUTH IN AN ABBEY WITH MONKS IN 1971 HAUNTED BY A WOMAN

Dom Frederick

talked of his book

on the old abbey

as we cleared weeds

from the abbey garden,

hyacintho caelum

et album nubes,

summer sun on the heads

and hoes in our hands,

a single sunbeam

is enough to drive away

many shadows said Francis,

there she lay

and welcoming me in

and so I lay with her,

amplius lava me

ab iniquitáte mea

et a peccáto meo

munda me,

Hugh sat in the novice's room

glum faced and turning

a pencil between fingers

talking of Dom George

and his knitting,

touching the rough bricks

of the cloister wall with fingers

as I passed by

on my way to the church,

dans l'amour de Dieu

nous sommes sauvés

the French monk said

as he showed me

how to lay

the priestly garments,

fingers on smooth cloth

silk soft as her flesh,

a broken spirit

is the true sacrifice

Dom Charles said

quoting a psalm

as he breathed on an apple

and then polished it

on a cloth,

no matter how thin

you slice it

there will always be

two sides Gareth said

quoting Spinoza

talking of his student days,

fiducia a Dio

the Italian monk said

and he sliced an apple

for us both to taste,

enter me slowly

she said

my husband is far away

he will never know,

His glory covers the heavens

and the stars were His gems

and the moon his medallion,

George said we we sat

in the gardens for repose

I cannot stay here

much longer

the nights are too cold

and my bones complain,

Dom Robert spoke

of butterflies and said

the Red Admiral was his favourite

and he showed me

as it fluttered by

in the cloister garth,

His spirit breathes

and the waters flow

the Good Book

Hugh said

says so.