NO WORDS CAME MCMLXXI

A YOUTH IN AN ABBEY HAUNTED BY A WOMAN IN 1971

Dom Peter
in the workshop
planing wood
the wood in a vice,

ad opus est
ut oraret he said
as I watched
as I swept
wood shavings,

bell tolled
for the office
of None,

sunlight on
the cloister garth,

monks around
talking and sipping tea
I sipped and watched
but was silent,  

kiss me here
she said
my husband never
kisses me here
so I did,

the bell tower tolled
George pulled
the ropes with Gareth,

prier dans votre c�"ur
a French monk said
God hears all prayers,

Hugh thin and gaunt
helped in the kitchen
with Dom Patrick
soup made
he said,

Arbeiten im Glauben
geschehen sind
Godly Werke
the Austrian monk
said to me
as we sorted books
in the abbey library,

I kissed along
her inner thighs
leaving moist kisses,

Christian lernen
von Christus wie
Sie sollte Christus
zu lieben
St Bernard said
so I read,

I sat in the church
in the semi dark
after Vespers
waiting for God
to speak
but no words came
just a flicker
of the red light
at the altar end,

�- ανθρώπινη
συμπεριφορά πηγάζει
από τρεις κύριες
πηγές την επιθυμία
συναίσθημα και γνώση
Gareth said
quoting Plato
as we sat
on the abbey beach
watching the tide come in,

I see her in my mind
legs spread wide
saying
enter
enter in.