Lent 2012


Listen to the silence of the night
Through the waves and the dust of distance
That we name with great conviction, air
And in that silence are there not traces
Of the screams of ecstasy or the cries of pain
As nature eavesdrops even through stone?

It is once again Lent and so shall contemplate
The violent sacrifice that made one whole again
By renouncing two or three of the silly vices
Which in proportion would seem minimal
But in substance have become too strong
To be resisted by that window standing alone.

So to submit to an age old custom, fasting
For forty days to suspend oneself for a time
From life itself and climb to a higher plane
If not in body then at least in spirit
To see the world change from dark to light
Without effort as though sitting on a throne.

Chiusi, 23 February 2012