The Hours
It is a quiet day so far
The only noise I hear is mine
Short steps here and there
The creaking microwave
(yes, it creaks when working
sometimes me, too)
Soft murmurs from the television
The illusion that we’re
Interacting
It shouldn’t have to be
The start of a campaign
A march for quiet times for
For writing or whatever
I’m grown: I should have it
When I need it
Raise some noise
When I want to
Otherwise, the timing of a cenobite
Who wishes only to be left alone
In prayer
A world of prayer
In which the supplicant, petitioner
Enjoys a pure way filled with silent atoms
Paving the way
For all the calls, complaints,
Requests to God
Sometimes too much, I think
The hermit should get out more
If at all
There is a world
The one prayed for
We should know it better
Before closing off
To help it
A fortress of solitude?
Is that why the heroes need one?
Shut oneself off
To better understand
The causes that we fight for
Extract ingredients from the bowl
Before they’re mixed again
Before we fly back to Metropolis
To take it all on
Again
C L Couch
Photo by Keenan Constance on Unsplash
clcouch123 
May 3, 2020 at 7:49 pm
Good questions. I like how you pan out from your room to the world at present, to the depths of the past. I’m never very happy with the isolation/flagellation/celibate/exclusive nature of the ones who ‘know’, who have the answers because they have a hot line to God being so holy. The hermits usually survived because their old mum brought them food to eat and did their washing. Priests have a housekeeper to do the un-noble stuff, Buddhist monks have to have someone to do the housework while they’re contemplating. Probably the women they don’t think are suitable for a holy vocation. There’s always someone oiling the wheels for these people, doing the donkey work, the laundry, paying the taxes so they can have hospital treatment when they need it.
May 4, 2020 at 12:34 am
Yes, thank you. I think those who get it should be in the world, too. There’s enough strife caused by leadership that is entirely out of touch with constituencies. We folk, otherwise, can maybe find our wisdom, too.
May 9, 2020 at 3:02 pm
I love this. Those who pray – hermits, monks – should mingle more with the world, so they understand it and empathize with it. At the same time, maybe those who are in power, who are overly involved with the world, should become hermits and spend time in prayer, touching the depths that make God. Jane’s comment above is an interesting one.
May 9, 2020 at 8:39 pm
Thank you, Cathy. And, yes, Jane’s comment’s apt and helpful. Your idea of leaders living as hermits and praying as such is smart and, I think, exigent. Their time apart might help them ironically to find the needs of their constituents. As for the religious who do live apart, yes, I guess it’s my bias that we’d all be better served if they mixed it up some with the rest of us.
May 11, 2020 at 10:08 pm
Everyone could stand to spend time in silence and meditation, I think. But I can’t imagine some people doing it! Some people are not self-aware and have no desire to be such. And yes, I agree with you that it would be good for the religious monks to mingle with the rest of us. 🙂