San Damiano Poem by Robert Charles Howard

San Damiano hovers on the majestic bluffs
overlooking the great bend of the Ohio
bound for its rendezvous with the Mississippi.

A soft haze filters the fading sun.
Budding tree limb fingers, eager for the Equinox,
are silhouetted against the rosy dusk light.

After the sun surrenders to the night,
cosmic diamonds salt the sky with effigies
of proud Orion and the two bears.
Venus and Jupiter seem close enough to touch.

Deep in the shadows atop the tranquil bluffs,
Saint Francis himself might be tarrying -
kindly urging us to concord and empathy.