Saturday, April 2, 2011

After Reading the News I Fall Into a Book of Hours


The darkness,
always too visible.

Will the pen ever really
be mightier than the sword?

Till then I will wait
perched on mortared hope.

Praying simply,
simply praying.

Matins, Lauds, Prime,
Terce, Sext,

None, Vespers,
Sweet Compline.

Breathing in a world
of parchment peace.

While pestles grind and grind
honeyed words, divine,

and colors bring echoes
from our earth that sing

songs of saffron,
madder, cinnabar,

leaf of gold
pitch of pine,

azurite and malachite,
sepia, and lac.





* The book of hours is the most common type of Medieval illuminated manuscript. It contains prayers, psalms and illustrations.

No comments:

Post a Comment