A Splendor
For RS
Lou is 98
He sits beside a table with a top that shines and reflects
As you were standing there, he says, I saw a figure Tall, and in a robe, and
with a hood
But it was you, he laughs, in your reflection on the table top Only you and
no other
On the oratory seat he slumps as usual and sleeps Waking for the Blessed
Sacrament
He has missed the lessons, the sermon and the consecration No matter
For at the age of 98, he stands upon the border And the barrier is lowered
Each time he wants to step across, the frontier guards will say:
Enter, you are free to enter
And there he stands, between sleeping and waking While he decides
Once a friend saw Death, a tall dark figure in a robe and hood And the Pope
walking towards the Tiber
He walked towards the river on the morning of the visit With his tall
companion
The tall companion, silent, for no words are needed Only a guide
This world of ours the true reflection of the other Dimmer, less resolved
We are the images, and the figure in the hood, the robe Removes the hood,
and the robe
For he is welcome there, a resident, a splendor To be seen and recognized
Pavel
September 15, 2011