DEEP DEEP SEA.

MONKS AND A NOVICE IN AN ABBEY IN 1971

The French

peasant monk

pushed a wheel barrow

along by

the abbey church;

the squeaky wheels

echoing through

the nearby wood

and throughout

the silent cloister;

his tonsured head

lowered,

back bent,

prayers simple

maybe said.

I tended

the dying monk,

aged and fragile

as an ancient script

of yesteryear;

I recalled how

she tongued me

along

my inner thighs,

bringing tears of joy

into my hazel eyes.

Dom Gregory prepared

the altar for mass,

laying the altar cloth,

preparing the priest monk's

robes and gowns,

making sure

the candles were ready;

his footfalls

like echoes

on a deep deep sea.