Thinning Out

It was a sparse congregation
For Conventual Mass
Only eight in the pews
Myself included

And the large monk
Who in previous years
I thought to be unhappy
Well he was absent

I am unsure about Compline this evening
For it is in the Chapter House
An altogether uninspiring room
With an even less engaging seating plan

It makes me wonder if the monks
Are taking the opportunity
To regress from the openness of the Abbey
Into the enclosement of the Chapter House

I for one certainly hope not
For whilst I am neither a believer
Nor even a regular visitor
I am enchanted by the setting, also the acoustics

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Vision

I saw you my love
In that light on the red velvet
Above and beyond the organists silhouette

I saw your gentleness
I saw your soft skin
I wished to love you, to love you tenderly

I saw your strong will
Your irrevocable spirit; also your strong defiance
I should not always ask that you join me

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Entrance

I am struck by the light
I am struck by the silence
I am struck by the stillness

I am here already
Yet already I have a desire to be here again, soon
It seems I am finding a new kind of longing

I am struck by the light, the brightness of stone
I am struck by the silence, even of the breath
I am struck by the stillness, all here moves slowly

Would that my love could be with me
In the way of the couple sat across the way
(She leans her head into his shoulder)

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Reasoning

I am here for no purpose, other than my own
It is neither doubt, nor faith, which attracts me
Yet I am thankful, for the beauty, for the welcome

2018 will be the one hundredth anniversary
Though of what I am not sure, but significantly
A grand new organ, with trumpets, has been installed

It’s in tuning phase, for which they ask for silence
Which is fine by me, for, being tone deaf
I would be able to offer so so little assistance

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Cusp

With this new light
Which oddly I call darkness
I have the gift of a book to read

I read about a conversation
Which began in daylight
And carried on deep into the evening

Two men; one younger, one older
Talking about Jung, indeed deciding
To make a film of Jung’s enquiries

I imagine them steeped in talk
Each, in turn, moving the other one on
Enveloping themselves in this, the new light

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