The Abbey

29 October 2023

I saw her atop the stair, so long ago,
and I decided to go to the abbey to pray,
but I found it disheartening to see the men
all shackled with crimson ideals, the blood hardly dry
before new lashes opened the next season's wounds.
I was bound to discover these treacheries only
through silence, the prayer of the anchorite
screaming inside for the violence to cease,
as her smile could not sooth every malice
nor carve out a home where love only could live.

In the end, I chose freedom,
but not without heartache and not without shame.