He Is Dead Mcmlxxi Poem by Terry Collett

I went for an early morning shower
thinking the bell
in the abbey clock tower
had struck four
but after the shower
it tolled again four times
and I had got up too early
and so went back
to bed until five,

tempus et tempus,

the French monk weeded
the beds in the garden
his broad back bent
almost in two
I spoke but he looked
at me with his peasant eyes
and smiled,

take me from the rear she said
so I did and she said
her husband didn't understand
neither did I,

man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law
said saint Paul
I read it in that Bible
I'd bought in my home town,

bell tower so tall
and we rang the bells
to learn the way it was done
release the ropes
or you'll go to the top
Dom James said smiling,

amare Dio ed essere salvati
the Italian monk said
as we worked in the sacristy
before Sext and lunch,

the reader in the refectory
read about Bloody Mary
he read in a monotone voice
his voice alone in the air
and we just sat there,

the higher one is placed
the more humbly one should walk
Gareth said quoting Cicero,

Dieu voit dans le cœur
the French monk told me
he was old and came over
from a French abbey in exile,

we made love as she wanted
to be loved her husband
was on a long trip with his lorry
and wouldn't be back until late,

loqui ad vos Deus scit
a monk said and George
who Latin told me
what he had said
while waiting
for Vespers to begin,

the huge table napkins
we wore during mealtimes
could have covered a bed
which made George smile
as we tucked them
around our necks,

fühlen Gott hier
a German monk said
pointing to his chest
then to his tonsured head,

that old monk Dom James told us
whom we helped last week
is no more
he is dead.