COMPLINE 1971

A YOUTH IN AN ABBEY IN 1971 HAUNTED BY A WOMAN

Compline bell rings,
cloister dark except
where lamp lights up,

salva nos, Dómine,
vigilántes, custódi nos
dormiéntes,

moonlight on cloister wall,
I finger the stoup,
holy water on fingertips,

Hugh thin faced
fingers after me,
touched me she said

touch me here,
Dom Peter walks
the stone slabs,

cork lined boots,
black cowl,
I stand in the choir stalls

near the wall,
lamps switched off,
darkness and chant begins,

plainsong unison,
enter me she said
I am as a church to be filled,

the world's your ship
not your home Therese said,
I gaze at the monk's head

before me silhouetted
in the semi dark,  
our Lady's statue

high above lit up
by a single light,
the abbot walks the aisle

with young Cuthbert
who holds holy water
in a sprinkler,

show them by deeds
rather than words
Benedict said,

I stare at the Virgin's stillness,
alma Redemptóris Mater,
quæ pérvia cæli porta manes,

a world in darkness
out there beyond the high windows,  
silence after prayer,

complete stillness,
pax,
Compline.