Two monks pick fruit
from bushes
in the abbey gardens,
the early
afternoon sun
blesses
their tonsured heads,
a black beaded rosary
hangs
from the leather belt
of the younger one.
I polish the wood
of the choir stalls
with beeswax
and a yellow duster;
I remember her softness,
her opening wide,
the scent of hair
as I moved in
and lay there.
The Austrian monk,
head to one side,
sups his soup
in the refectory
off the old
French spoon,
listening to the reader
read of Cromwell,
and the thought of Compline
and bed quite soon.
MONKS AND A NOVICE IN AN ABBEY IN 1971.