a doomed affair
a doomed affair
when a young doctor/padre came to the convent
to check on the nuns' health, he met the young abbess, and their world ignited
when he touched her arm, her impulse was
to kiss him, so strong was her desire she paled
she was ill, and an older nurse took over the round
awake at night, god didn't hear her pleas
the padre was confused and thought it was love
and in time, went away in the dark sea of unprocessed love where no one could navigate
and one night, two lovers collided.
The abbess in full womanhood tended to her duty with a song in her heart
the padre, too strode about, confident in his job
no one knew, but the old woman, in a house near the convent knew but said nothing as
it is impossible to an earthquake.
The abbess was with a child!
One day, the old woman came back with a foundling in her arms
when the abbess came back, she had been to a hospital because he lungs were weak, her face
was drawn, but her eyes were clear as crystal
Her god had forgiven her; whatever happened outside the convent wall was not her concern
the padre's soul was not ironclad, could not
resolve his pain and did as many men do when life becomes too burdensome, took to drink
From his church, he could see the boy, his son
play in the garden, his heart broke, too much suffering, he could not stretch out, call his son's name.
Often, when people know the truth but can not prove it, the truth is hidden as a memory but
not spoken about
For the day when people came running to the church and the boy, not ten asked a passerby
what had happened
The passerby said it is about your father,
he hangs in the beel-fry
Copyright ©
Jan Hansen
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