The Monastery Cemetery: Gethsemani Abbey
Daniel James Sundahl
Leave us alone, the white crosses say, we're Ordinary men who loved raspberries, whose lives
Were spent in prayer, growing onions, while
Pestilence raged the nation. We were patient
Men scrubbing our own floors, believing we could
Wash the stains away if we rubbed hard enough. Stay here if you enjoy being blessed by God;
Leave if you live your life like a tedious argument.
All of us who lie her tug at the earth like A share of blanket, without anger, belligerence.
When we stare up at night, the stars school
Like fish; we pray with open mouths forever.
The moon swims by like a lure; this is the way
Eternity begins, a line of light pulling us closer.
Daniel James Sundahl is a Professor in English and American Studies at Hillsdale College where he has taught for thirty-one years. He's been married to Ellen for nearly thirty-nine years. Publications abound over those years, articles, some books, poems and reviews and lectures. Retirement is quite near with a move from Michigan to South Carolina which shouldn't be too complicated with just three cranky cats and one well-behaved German Shepherd dog.