INSIGHTFUL MCMLXX

MONKS IN AN ABBEY IN 1970

Insightful
or so it was
meant to be
time spent
in the monastery
more like self deception
one of the worst
deceptions,

auto-inganno
the Italian monk said
as we walked across
the field to the abbey,

amour de Dieu
the French monk said
I watched his lower lip
large and indulged looking,

smell of incense
in the church after Mass
light from high windows
on the flagstone floor
especially at lunch time
during Sext,

extra ecclesiam nulla salus
Augustine said
no salvation outside
the mystical body
of Christ,

tall thin monk
planing wood
in the workshop
shavings falling
to the floor
curled up
I swept up after
wondering who swept up
in St Joseph's
carpenter's workshop,

corpo di Cristo
held up by the Italian monk
during Mass
no longer bread,

I ate in the refectory
the monk reading
about Mary Tudor's life
light through window
onto the features of the monk
opposite as if blessed,

Dom James teaching us
about the plainsong
the notes and how long
to hold the notes
in unison all together
no harmony he said
and under the above lamp
his tonsured head
seemed red.