That God is Love,
Commentary on John 15 1-8
“Me in thee, and thee in me…”

Homily
Peter Menkin, Obl Cam OSB
Church of Our Saviour (Episcopal)
Mill Valley, CA USA
(North of San Francisco)
Fifth week of Easter
Wednesday Eucharist, May 13, 2009

Acts 15: 1-6
John 15: 1-8
Psalm 122



In the name of God: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

It is in Love, through the Church, Worship, and prayer; it is in Love, through acts of mercy, charity, and deeds for others; it is in Love, through following the poor and chaste Christ through the Church year—where we come to know and live in the way of Christ. This is called the Christian life. What this life entails is narrated through the Bible, in specific The New Testament. On this day we are reminded again that God seeks us in Love.

Our reading from John 15: 1-8 says directly:

“I am the true vine, and my father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me…”

My life as an Oblate, received by the Camaldolese monastic order of St. Benedict 15 years ago, has opened to me a life lived as offering to God. Sometimes I think of it as Samson in the Bible who lived under a vow, and think that called by God I’ve responded and may hold a special fervor for Christ and Church, to abide in God and continue the Divine Call that brought me to live in the world as the Oblate does, rather than in a monastery, as does the Monk. This is a life of abiding in Christ, abiding in God, and a radical giving over to a more religious life.

One preached retreat at Immaculate Heart Hermitage in Big Sur, California where Brother Bead spoke of The Rule of Saint Benedict, I realized that this Holy Book was an excellence direction and resource for living life in a full. It is a directed way that is common to the monastic community of which I am a part. Having chosen to center my life around the daily office and worship and prayer, my interest is in living with the Parish as a centerpiece for life. With its many Biblical references and references to the Psalm in The Rule, I am helped in my direction for abiding in a manner consistent with John’s, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me…”

Living with others in community, as I live the Parish life, and the monastic life in the world, I, like you, follow the poor, chaste Christ through the year.

“Me in thee, thee in me.”



Love binds us.
We are friends in Christ.

That Christ invites us: it is an enormous hospitality of God that is extended anew through Christ. We are invited, and this is Grace--for we are accepted.

Like Dame Julian of Norwich, we learn the Lord’s meaning that is brought to us through divine longing.

Love is his meaning.
Who shows it to us: Love.
What is shown: Love.
Why was it shown: Love.
We learn that Love is our Lord’s meaning.

Christ in the Bible, Christ in the Church Fathers, Christ in the Church guides us. Though we may have different approaches and needs, we are united in Christ. For example, as a contemplative, I seek Union with God. This is an unknowing knowing. One lives with the contradictions, lives with the questions of Christ and those of the Church. This includes those mysteries that we find in the Bible.

The invitation to God is the result of God’s love, not our love of God. Humans cannot be so perfect as to regard God in a manner as He regards humans. Though we bless God “for our creation, preservation, / and all the blessing of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love/ in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ…” and may do this daily, it is God’s grace that gives us these freedoms. This gift of Christ is a result of God’s love for woman and mankind

A relationship has many dimensions, as has any love affair.
Being angry with God is not failing to love God. Asking why did this happen; having doubts, is a way of reaching and moving towards love. These are points of starting that enables us to enter into love. Otherwise the stumbling block becomes our own emotional failure. One must be true to our own feelings and thoughts. Emotional honesty is required. It is not one who is angry who is a failure, but when one is denying self-awareness, dishonest in the relationship with God. This honesty, and knowing oneself in Christ is a job itself, and all of us as Christians work at this task. It is part of the vineyard work.

Abiding as resting in Christ, in the spirit of the Church—is balm. It is comfort. As Archbishop Rowan Williams says, “Church is something that happens, a verb before it is a noun.” Church is a vineyard of Christ, and the Church asks, even tells us, that the world is Christ’s vineyard, as our lives are engaged and lived in the vineyard. We labor in God, who is Love.

Love is a verb before it is a noun. Love acts upon us, as we live in the history of God in our lives, and within our nation and community. It is common for us to offer guidance and moral community in Christ, and we do this personally and corporately. Each member helps the other along the way. We express this help and caring each Sunday. One example is: Each Sunday we offer each other “…the peace of the Lord…” This offer is our desire that each of us experience Christ’s peace.

As an Oblate, I enjoyed meeting acceptance and understanding of the requests made of an Oblate in one’s life. This is called Postulancy. Postulancy lasts at the least a year. The Oblate Introduction says:

Long before the coming of Christ, humanity's quest for the Absolute gave rise (and bears) throughout the centuries … witness to the divine destiny of the human person and to the presence of the Spirit in the hearts of all who seek to know what is true and ultimately real. …[E]very Christian call witnesses to that dimension present interiorly in every other Christian.

For as our reading says, and as we live and learn as Christians we recognize in each other Christ, and our faith in heart, deed, and word. We believe in the seen and unseen:

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” So we learn to “…feed the poor, and homeless,” as we do through our work in providing a meal to them, so we learn to “…worship regularly in Church, as we do on Sundays and other days, so we learn to “…introduce others to Christ, as we do by being a light to the world.

We seek God together as we abide in God in Christ together.
More from the Rule for Camaldoli Oblates:

As sincere seekers of God (RB 58, 7) we approach God as sons and daughters. We center our lives on the encounter with God, which finds expression in forms of prayer handed down in early Christian, patristic and monastic traditions. Ultimately, our prayer seeks to become the very prayer of the Holy Spirit within our hearts.

This statement of the Rule for Oblates is genuine for me. I believe it will resonate
with you, for we experience prayer in Church together this day. I find that my own yearnings are fulfilled in my divine search, as I rest in the prayers. This form of abiding in Christ is one of many we may practice or know. It is within the Church, that means of offering from generation to generation life in Christ, that we find meaning and direction.

Through the centuries mankind and womankind have experience the divine search, and the words of John have been revelation, comfort and instruction: “I am the true vine, and my father is the vine grower…Abide in me as I abide in you.”Let me end with this blessing: The Lord bless us and keep us. Amen. The Lord Make his face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. Amen. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace. Amen.



Audio of Homily by homilist is here:

Photo by Henry Worthy, Camaldoli Oblate, London.
Icon of Christ by Zalewski.

Seeker & Doubter
poem by Peter Menkin
(revised January 2009)

Water springs
from pools deeply
hidden, refreshing
mortal companionship
with divine
simplicity.

Born, lived under,
died to be given
by the hand of God
a suspenseful dedication
in voice heard with promise:
they will never perish
sweet allowance, forgiveness
immortal. Wondering
may we live in within
your presence, Spirit come.

A revise of a longer version, posted here January 2009 because I like this short form. It says something about the relationship with God. Note the two icons by artist Zalewski taken from the internet. The first is a lovely color and for me is a Kingdom of God and creation image. The second of Christ's Baptism puts a slant on the poem making the waters mentioned in it Baptism. Since this is Epiphany, I decided to add the Baptism of Christ note--the illustration underlines.

But the poem is about waters that spring from abundance. When I first approached the Camaldoli monks, after an invitation, to become a postulant for Oblation I attended a Quiet Day at Incarnation Monastery, Berkeley, CA USA. It was there I talked with one of their order, Camaldoli, Benedictine Monk Father John about becoming a Postulant.

We discussed "The Woman at the Well," and waters of abundance. I must have said some things he thought worthwhile for a candidate, for he accepted me as a Postulant, to my joy! That was sometime in the early 1990s, and now it has been about 15 years as an Oblate, with prior to that a year of Postulancy. I am a Contemplative, or working at it, with faith in Christ and belief in the Trinity.



St. Romuald's Brief Rule For Camaldolese Monks

Sit in your cell as in paradise.
Put the whole world behind you and forget it.
Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watching for fish,
The path you must follow is in the Psalms — never leave it.

If you have just come to the monastery,
and in spite of your good will you cannot accomplish what you want,
take every opportunity you can to sing the Psalms in your heart
and to understand them with your mind.

And if your mind wanders as you read, do not give up;
hurry back and apply your mind to the words once more.

Realize above all that you are in God's presence,
and stand there with the attitude of one who stands
before the emperor.

Empty yourself completely and sit waiting,
content with the grace of God,
like the chick who tastes nothing and eats nothing
but what his mother brings him.



Last two images are from (1) Immaculate Heart Hermitage, Big Sur, CA USA, and (2) Incarnation Monastery, Berkely, CA USA.

Book Review: "Expanding Our Hearts in Christ: Perspectives on The Rule of Saint Benedict"

"The Rule of St. Benedict" is an optimistic work. Sister Aquinata Bockman, the author of the book of commentary on it titled, "Expanding our Hearts in Christ: Perspectives on The Rule of Saint Benedict", says it is so for the monastic, and for the reader of The Rule who is a layperson. Aquinata Bockmann calls the work, in declarative terms, an "imperative."

The Benedictine Nun, who has taught in Rome since 1973 at the Pontifical Institute for Spirituality and Moral Theology Regina Mundi, says it is "...a promise offered personally to each monastic..." that "...expresses the optimistic tone." (My editorial emphasis.)

The Rule begins: "Listen..." Simple, yet profound.

There is much here for all of us to gain benefit. The writer is learned.

Referring to another classic work, as she often does to expand and explain in a scholarly manner The Rule in her wonderful and thoughtfully fulfilling book, "Expanding Our Hearts in Christ: Perspectives on the Rule of Saint Benedict," The German Sister quotes: "My son, listen, son, to your father's instruction, and incline your ear to my words. Readily devote your attention to me, and with a faithful heart heed to all that is said. For I want to teach you about the spiritual battle and to instruct you in the ways that you should fight for your king."

How excellently this adds measure to the opening words of The Rule, which is: "Listen carefully, my son, to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is advice from a father who loves you; welcome it, and faithfully put it into practice."

These words come down to us through fifteen hundred years. Traditional truth and learning, certainly. She notes Benedict had certainly read that first quote in the Latin in the Admonitia S. Basilii ad filium spiritualem. Right from her book's beginning the theme that St. Benedict worked with previous texts, especially "The Rule of the Master" indicates both a strength in his work and his ability to make it a Rule outliving, and widely outlasting in popularity and use all previous sources. This Rule is without doubt one of Benedict's own originality and wisdom, though it relies on the Fathers of the Church, Scripture, and previous texts. Where does the work of commentary point the reader?

It is pointed out to us that it is Christ who points us from within. So we learn about expanding the heart in Christ in this work, and it is a work that delivers. You won't be disappointed in her commentary, so I believe. "The inmost soul expands and extends into God," she writes of The Rule. Covering selected parts of The Rule, she continues, "Like the Master, Benedict seems to believe that walking, just moving ahead, is not enough. Rather one should hasten, run (cf. RB 73). This seems to be a sign of intense love and zeal, as well as of longing for God and the magnetism of God who comes to meet us."

In a decade, nay even an era, where we have forgotten God, and some say God has forgotten us, and faith is hard to come by, we learn of ways of faith and the heart, we learn that The Rule asks for zeal. The commentary points a way, the way of The Rule. What is this "zeal" the postmodern man and woman may ask? Sister Aquinata writes, "...we see that zeal is a radical passion in people. It is exclusive, permeates everything, and knows no half-measures. It is a dynamic reality, the direct opposite of weak, tired, timid, or hesitant movement." We are given doors that open us to the necessities of faith in this work, an important need in this time and certainly both the century previous to this one. Broad statement as I've made, large in its expansive way, there is a truth to this book's exhortations, as there remains the strength that The Rule brings to its reader's faith. Call this commentary a companion book of faith.

In the book's section, "That This Rule Does Not Contain the Full Observance of Justice," we learn, "Benedict addresses any human being, `anyone,' indicating that he is not referring to special perfection for a certain group." This is a commentary that calls the work a way to the Creator. Benedict "...realizes his solidarity with all of humanity that ought to let the Fathers, especially through Sacred Scripture, help us on the way to the Creator." A work that relies heavily on scripture, Benedict is a genius--a religious genius. So I say, and so it is implied in this work about his Rule. How one enters in the monastery, makes a request, is similar to the way one makes a request in Christ of God. The Rule says, "Therefore, if the newcomer perseveres in knocking and if it becomes evident in four or five days that he patiently bears the injustices done to him and the difficulties of entering and persists in his request, then entrance is to be granted, and he may first stay in the guest quarters for a few days." It is pointed out in the commentary, "Yet we may also recall that the Lord himself knocks in this way on our door and remains there even if we do not open to let him in readily..." A metaphor for coming to Christ, certainly. "

How much it is emphasized that humility is an important attribute of The Rule. "...[H]umility is the fundamental attitude of hospitality." In my own zeal for hospitality, I've gone on at length about the commentary and The Rule. I purposefully wrote a long review, yet despite various efforts have not done the book justice, nor given it the review it merits to say how good it really is as a commentary. There is so much to this book. Read it yourself; you won't be sorry. What is the worth of The Rule, and what is the worth of all the exhortation and explanation and commentary of the work by Sister Aquinata Bockmann in her book, "Expanding Our Hearts in Christ: Perspectives on the Rule of Saint Benedict"?

I want to end this review with a quotation about stability of heart used in the book from Gregory of Nyssa: "This is the most marvelous thing of all, how the same thing is both a standing still and a moving...I mean by this that the firmer and more immovable one remains in the Good, the more he progresses in the course of virtues...It is like using the standing still as if it were a wing while the heart flies upward through its stability in the Good." This Rule of Benedict is a book of ethical teaching, moral teaching, and a work about God and getting to know and live with him, a means of expanding our hearts in Christ. It says stay with God.

--Peter Menkin, Pentecost, Christ the King Sunday, 2007

This review appears on Amazon.com.

Book Review: "The Way of Jesus"

I come to recognize publishers that publish books interesting to me, specifically with titles of spiritual and religious topics. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company of Michigan, USA and Cambridge, United Kingdom is one such publisher. A friend loaned me the book titled, “The Way of Jesus,” I am happy to recommend this anonymous work after reading it. I admit I may have found myself overlooking the title if it had not been brought to my attention. This is a book helpful in knowing Christ and living the Christian life.

The book was originally discovered in Germany in 1516 under the title “Theologia Germanica,” published by Martin Luther. A contemporary style helps with understanding the work, it was translated into the contemporary English by Tony D’Souza, who lives in London, England. The writing contains a certain charm without being difficult to the 21st Century American reader; hence the editing is successful if only containing a whiff of plainness and kind of simplicity. This may be to its credit, after reading the entire book and looking back on it.

You guess this is a mystical work, probably, and you guess right. Written in short segments, one may read it on a daily basis finding time to reflect on each chapter. I read it straight through, so to speak, not reading it as a devotional, but as an instructive and illuminating work on Christ and my relationship and understanding of him in my life. Fortunately, I found this satisfying and illuminating. The work is an illuminating book, 140 pages and introduces itself on the cover as, “a contemporary edition of a spiritual classic.” Tony D’Souza is noted as “editor,” by the way. Just to be clear on the matter and give proper credit to him.

From the start, the book offers evidence and instruction: “…[O]ur knowledge of God should become so perfect that we see that none of our gifts or will, love or good works come from ourselves but that they all come from God, from whom all good proceeds.” Perhaps you as reader of this review say, “How obvious.” But I recall a situation where I confused my own sense of smallness before God instead of his largeness; instead my posture required an attitude of humility that accepts and acknowledges His goodness and greatness. This is not so large an error, or far from a way to humility, yet to get on a better path to the Way of Jesus this book is helpful in sorting out relationship and truths. There is discernment on its pages.

Again, in the same line, as the author says early in the book, “…[I]t is better that God should be loved, praised, and honored even if we vainly imagine that we love or praise God. This is preferable to God being left unloved, unpraised, and unhonored, because when the vain imagination turns into understanding of truth, then claiming anything for our own will fall away naturally…’Poor fool that I was, I imagined it was me, but all the time it was God.’” Simple, yes, but clarifying and also helpful in bringing the reader to an insight to Christ’s significant and special relationship with mankind (womankind, too, of course.)

It is by degrees and example, by various dictums the writer lets us know something of perspective: “Four Things Are Necessary Before a Person Can Receive Divine Truth and Become Possessed by the Spirit of God.”

Possessed by the spirit of God? I ask, and I wonder. This statement about divine truth is novel to my ears, as are discussions of evil personified by the Devil. Yet as a reviewer I urge you to buy the book to read on and persevere; the reader will find this endeavor of a book both entertaining and also written so that its certain realities are recognizable in our century. Reading a classic work does take some leaps and jumps, especially when written almost 500 years ago.

Christ says blessed are the poor. He means material poverty, and that is common knowledge. But he also says, blessed are the poor in spirit, and the author who is imparting “knowledge,” or a way of knowing, ends a chapter with the promise of his teachings: “Out of this grows that poverty of spirit of which Christ said…” One gets the firm intention of learning something about spiritual poverty by this work, and thereby a humility. To this end, the chapter headings are like aphorisms, such as the chapter just noted: “There is a Deep and True Humility and Poverty of Spirit in a Person Who Shares in the Divinity of God.” I thought these a kind of Zen Koan. But slightly so. More a puzzle made statement than an exercise in special construction. Yet the book is that, too, in its own way. There you have a sense of the way mystery is constructed by the modern edition, I guess the modern language is true to the original since a noteworthy publisher publishes the book. Here is another “aphorism”, clearer and less puzzling, but a puzzle: “What Sin Is, and How We Must Not Claim Any Good thing for Ourselves, because All Good Belongs to the True Good Alone.”

I was glad to find this book title available through Amazon.com, for I tried searching on it (the title), but could not find the book. I tried a search on the editor, Tony D’Souza, and found the book on Amazon.com. This particular copy, which was loaned to me, was purchased at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, California (USA) where my friend said she found it by browsing.

I am happy she thought it suited my interests and tastes, and also that I would appreciate something that takes a desire for a special religious flavor of instruction. My Deacon friend practices contemplation in the morning, and knowing my own interest in contemplative prayer is correct in her recognition that contemplatives will find the book, “The Way of Jesus,” helpful in living a Christian life. That is a lot to say about a book, but I am sure if you’ve gotten this far in this review, you have an interest that will make this a work beneficial to your own life, contemplative in leaning or not. This is also a book for the active life in Christ, for it clarifies and instructs on understanding this historic person and God. A helpful book in living a Christian life.

--Peter Menkin, Pentecost 2007


This amateur review of mine appears on Amazon.com.

Book Review: "Humility Matters"

In one section, the author writes about baptism: “In this foundational renunciation signified by baptism, we surrender our false self, generated by our egocentric desires. Since sin is living heedlessly, harming others or ourselves, we renounce these patterns of ignorance and sin by choosing a better way for ourselves and others.” In her book Sister Mary Margaret Funk suggests the way of humility (Humility Matters: for Practicing the Spiritual Life, foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama). This better way starts with baptism.

First point: The book is for anyone interested in living life with greater practice and aptitude for humility. If you are interested in the subject “humility,” or as a Christian in living a deeper spiritual life, this closely written book is for you. The book is published by The Continuum International Publishing Group (2005 copyright by Sisters of St. Benedict of Beech Grove, Indiana, Inc.). The copyright holder name is an indication of how current this title is and how savvy a book this is, the fact that a corporation of Sisters owns the copyright. How contemporary, and to have an introduction by the Dalai Lama!).

“This is the third volume of a trilogy that began with Thoughts Matter: The Practice of the Spiritual Life and continued with Tools Matter for Practicing the Spiritual Life.” That from the flyleaf of the dustcover. The only book of the trilogy I’ve read is the one on humility, which is based on Rule of St. Benedict teachings. Sister Mary is Benedictine, as you recognize and for those interested in Benedict and living a better kind of life, the 186-page book (with notes) is more than acceptable, it is an asset. Interested in Christian living, read this book. Keep in mind the book is not a casual read.

Second point: Christian living is based on a belief in Jesus. It is also an expression of living life in community, and expressing that way of life through various disciplines and practices, mostly guided by the community. In this manner, the book is written from a Christian perspective, albeit Roman Catholic. Why have a Buddhist write the introduction? He likes what Sister Mary says. The forward answers the question, and here is insight the spiritual leader gives when he writes, “Humility is an essential ingredient in our pursuit of transformation, although this may seem at odds with our need for confidence. But just as there is clearly a distinction between valid confidence, in the sense of self-esteem, and conceit, so it is important to distinguish between genuine humility, which is a kind of modesty, and lack of confidence” (from the forward by the Dalai Lama.)

Third point: Surprisingly, Humility Matters is genuine in its value to interreligious dialogue for it speaks to a cross section of believers. Sister Mary served as executive director of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue, a group fostering dialogue among monastics of the world’s religions.

A statement that is basic to Christians and believers in God is one step proposed by the writer. Relying on various sources of religious living, it is clearly inspirational and basic to consider this suggestion from the writings of John Cassian: “…to renounce our self-made thoughts of God.” I find this Biblical, and like the teaching in this book based on wisdom sources. The book is a source of wisdom for the reader, with many directions to consider, and even meditate upon.

One imaginative way Sister Mary brings these directions to life is through a play-like series of interviews with wisdom teachers from the long ago past. She interviews John Cassian, Teresa of Jesus The Illuminative Way, and holds a like imaginative dialogue with Therese of Lisieux. In a meditation Sister Mary writes, “In this book we have taken a long look at how we can respond to grace in order to empty ourselves of all…This journey is often called ‘The Way.’” A means of God consciousness, the book brings the interreligious dialogue along, as well as aids the Christian in his or her journey. Sister Mary writes in her introduction, “The external journey above the river is to do good and avoid evil. The spiritual journey starts with this plunge into the unseen, the interior life.” The Dalai Lama says in his forward, “Humility is an essential ingredient in our pursuit of transformation although this may seem to be at odds with our need for confidence.” A goal for the Buddhist is mindfulness. For the Christian, it is humility. The book points the reader in the direction of a deeper life, in a life more mindful.

Fourth point: In our consumer society we need things, so advertising tells us-- persuasively. Listing renunciation of “things” leads to better understanding and control of ones life, and is a subject of the book. In writing of these afflictions, she addresses food and sex, among other conditions mankind lives with and with which one needs to make various kinds of peace. The book is about having peace in ones life.

Conclusion: I like the section, “Thoughts on Vainglory.” From a lectio divina section of the book she quotes Proverbs in the Bible: “Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.” In many ways this is a book about living a better life, a life that turns away from evil and towards good. It is about living a life that finds greater meaning, and that is interested in living a more holy life in God. The book is not out of the reach of the intelligent reader; the suggestions and outlines are within the grasp of the ordinary person who desires a stronger inner life, and a better life in common with others. This book points in the direction of Luke, quoting, “…what must I do to inherit eternal life?” The response by the writer is to turn towards God; “No one is good but God alone.” Consider the book a gentle exhortation.

--Peter Menkin, 7th Sunday of Easter 2007

This review was posted to Amazon.com.

Engaged in the life of another, a woman without a home who lived in the backyard...

When I think back some years ago to 2000, I recall the woman who had no home and lived in the backyard of the house where I stayed. Technically, she was homeless. Yet she had a job, owned a car, and went to a university (she told me she could shower there between classes). I don't want to ruin the poem, which is spiritual in the sense that Rowan Williams writes about creation and other human beings' lives:

"...by opening to all a share in the fellowship of Christ's body...the human God had established, as abiding tokens of his presence, material acts and objects, bread, wine and water, and so declared all material existence to be potentially charged with the life of God." I read that recently in his book, "On Christian Theology: Challenges in contemporary theology." I make my way through this very interesting and thought provoking book on living the Christian life and living a life in communion as a member of the Episcopal Church. I do believe this so, by the way, of other communions. That is my ecumenical hope.

So you see, if you like me believe that we share others lives and have some responsibility towards them, you too may find this poem about the woman without a home both important and interesting. It is a story about love, too.


Crooning lamentations, the evicted lover
Peter Menkin -- Sep 23, 2000

The necessities of terrible
men drove her away, to sleep
outside and travel in her car.
Part of the society homeless
who band into groups including
lovers evicted, unknown failures,

this one sleeps in the backyard
under plum trees and raccoon
rooftop trails in a tent,
in a greenhouse among redwood
trees, and showers at the university
in the city-- liking soap,

blaming blue collar up
bringingand newly rich with sexual demands
boyfriend, for injuries apparent:
jilted her to devices post modern,
love lost knows, missing what

holds but does not, she cut her
hair short, rides a bicycle
to work and eats out of doors.
She exercises friendship and
suspicion, waiting on open

life without a home, crooning
lamentation with frail bravery.
What injury to the feminine soul,
elicits a protestation of pain
among all encountered by dearness.