Late Vigil
       

I have read that early monasteries,
knowing the importance of communal prayer,
entrusted one monk to keep watch all night
and wake the other brothers to sing
the psalms before dawn, and I admit
that once I thought this the perfect image
of me—only I descend to my brothers'
rooms and find the beds long empty
with no way to tell whether I've been
abandoned or fell asleep and dreamed
the turning stars—but truthfully
no one gave me this task. It has been
useless for a thousand years.

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Copyright © 2021 Caleb Nolen All rights reserved
from Salt Hill
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission