Over The Walls

Seven in the congregation
(Including moi)
Eight monks, plus the organist

We could have
A one-on-one communion
Except a man with dark glasses joins us

The old stooped monk is not present
And the new one, new to my sight at least, is bald
In the way I imagine cancer patients are

Besides the baldness
There is an awful lot of silvery grey
On parade in the choir stalls

With six men
And two women present
I wonder does man

Have more to fear
Or worry about than woman
Or are the ladies home cooking tea

The roof has nine crossed curved arches
Plus ten
Straight-across curved ones

But that is only in the knave
For sure
There will be more elsewhere

Is the lectern in the style
Of an eagle or an angel
And do they know that Donald Trump is in the country

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Unblock

Once more to the woods
For old times sake
Once more to send you greetings
From as far away as I can go

In dappled sunlight
With gates removed
And fences erected
I stop at the top

This year a different path
Yet still the fear of heights
Stops me veering off
For what I think would be a better view

I did take a photograph
Of the window and its shadow
Much as that snapshot
Of the leaves I framed

I think it is a new lamp
Which looks to be ideal
For reading and writing
I will confirm this tomorrow

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Fast Mover

I only just left the chapel in time
Just before the acting mother superior
Brought in her small but devoted flock
Earlier they had prayed
Before the burning candles
This then is their space numero duo
One of an altogether purer silence

I had sort of broken
Those quiet rules actually
Having found the Chapel
To be an ideal place to pen a poem
Which of course meant
Scrawling nib across paper
Though I made as little noise as possible

Though if I hadn’t have been on my own
I am sure I would have caused distraction
Which isn’t really fair is it
When I only come here once a year
The riverside walk has been closed off
And there is lots of Harris fencing
Waiting in the wings

Let’s hope to God that Health and Safety
Are not on the Benedictine’s case
For I fear that it stretches a good way back

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Recoil

Let me remember the beauty
The well-lit interior
The stained glass chapel
The trumpets for the organ

Let me remember the kindness
Brother Daniel
Keeping law and order
Keeping everything moving

Let me think on
Of walks in the gardens
Of walks by the river
Of the path up through the woods

Don’t let me slip into the miasma
Of this, the back-end of autumn
Of rain, of wind
Of overcast skies

Always remind me
Of the hug from my son
Of his kind, loving girlfriend
Who brings him such joy

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Replacement

I have lost one
And I have found one
Is that now
How it is always to be
I’m not certain
That I deserve such love
But it is there
So I will share it

Not that I will pester
No
For in the past
That plan got me nowhere
Though neither will I be
Silent
For also in the past
That method achieved precisely diddly-squat

I have found one
And I don’t want to lose him
That is
How it is always to be
I’m not certain
That we deserve each other
But we have it
So pray let us share it

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