Abbey Stillness

A weekend at St. Peter’s Abbey reminds me of the second vow of Benedictine spirituality: stabilitos–resisting inner escapes and staying still long enough to adhere to the given moment—to receive what’s here, now, as it is.

The kitchen clock,
the florescent light,
a cedar outside,
birdsong,
wind on brick,
a rattle
of dead leaves,
meltwater
over gravel,
monks
at choir,
true quietude, 
of things in their place,
like the vast space
around a verse on a page,
the immensity
of what can’t be said.